The secrets of past
by pheonixtrails
Summary: James has made it into Hogwarts. Dark secrets however prevent him into having a peaceful life. Watch how the marauders try to forget the past and make a new life for themselves. Will they manage or will the past come back and haunt them?
1. Of friends and enemies

_Welcome boys and girls to my very fist fanfic! From this moment on I warn you that I won't update every day, English isn't my first language so you'll find many mistakes. I don't know much of the British accent and jargons so most of the story will be American…ish__…__…__…__you know! I don't have any beta readers so if you are one and have a lot of spare time, would you pretty please help me? I'll give you credit and all…yeah, that's not much but I don't have money. Also I'm not JKRowling. I'm not even a woman. Anyway... on to the story. I hope you like it! _

**Chapter 1: of friends and enemies**

September 1st! A day every boy or girl hates! A day when all children put down their toys and pick up their backpack. All the streets were quiet and sober. People went on the train quietly dreading the months to come. Silence surrounded London. Well…almost…

"Fuck!" an eleven year old boy with messy hair swore running through the train station. He checked his watch. 5 more minutes! There wasn't enough time! Taking out a stick he pointed it at his luggage and a minute later it disappeared. Grinning at himself he ran towards a wall and vanished. Strangely enough the only people who saw all of this stared perplexed at the sight but a minute later woke up as from a bad dream and continued their schedule.

On the other side of the wall however the boy was running towards a moving train. He gotten on it the very moment it left the train station.

Recovering from the long run…the boy punched the air with his fist and fainted on the floor.

* * *

"Hello! Four-eyed freak wake up!" a black haired said poking him on the head.

James snorted and got up. He examined the boy and his companion. The boy had black hair, a tall stature and a handsome smile whereas his "chum" was the opposite. He was a chubby boy with sandy hair and James noted looked like a goblin when he smiled.

Shrugging at the strange duo, James got up and extended his hand.

"Well, I guess I should thank you for waking me up. My name is James!" he said.

The black-haired boy just sneered at James and talked in a tone that seemed as if the last thing on his mind was to chat with James

"You're a mudblood?"

"Huh?"

The kid raised his eyebrow and asked again.

"Do you have pure wizard blood or are you born from muggles?

"Oh!" James replied getting the hint. "My full name is James Potter. I'm part of one of the oldest line of wizards. Not that I care!" James said finally lowering his hand.

"Potter eh?" the boy smirked "your family is a disgrace for wizards. You may have all the blood you like; mingling with muggles is just as bad as being one yourself. Maybe you'll be wiser tan your family and come join us…" the boy pointed at himself and his companion "…slytherins!" the boy grinned.

James yawned at this and simply replied "you think you're so cool taking after your family but you are only a loser! It's not their fault they don't have magic blood. What's so wrong about them anyway? By the way is your name Malfoy or Black?"

The boy flinched at the sound of Black.

"Thought so!" James said smugly! "Only idiots like your family think their royal. I suppose you're Sirius right?"

Sirius nodded.

James wanted to smile but changed his mind and looked at the chubby boy. "And you are?"

The boy looked at Sirius for confirmation and when he received it he made a dramatic bow. "I'm Peter. Peter Pettigrew!"

James wanted to ask the boy if he had taken his meds but decided against it and simply nodded. Taking another glance at the two he walked to a compartment. He wasn't picky. Anything would be good enough if he managed to get away from dumb and dumber.

* * *

After 5 minutes James found one that seamed empty and didn't have seventh year old students saying hello to each other in different methods (James specially knew he wouldn't forget one special greeting between a boy and two girls). In the compartment were a little girl and a pale faced boy wearing old and dirty robes. James spooked when he saw the boy's condition and felt sorry for him. Deciding it was best to let him alone he approached the girl which James noted had an unusual red hair.

"Hy!" James said unsure. "I'm James. James Potter! You are?" he took out his hand to shake it with her.

The girl looked at him sceptically and said "I'm not a witch you know. Not a full blood at least! I was born from muggles. You don't have any business with me!" the girl looked away from him.

"Pardon?" James asked perplexed. He didn't know what to believe anymore. Everybody was sending him to the opposite camp. He shrugged and continued "I don't care if you have muggle or wizard blood in you. I just want to be friends. I'm not like the others!"

"You're a muggle-born like me then?"

"No. I have one of the purest bloods."

"Show off aren't you?"

"What? I don't care if I have wizard blood or not. I'm just not like those stuck up gits!"

"So you're ashamed of your family?"

James mentally slapped himself "Where do you come up with these ideas?"

"You're saying I'm stupid?" James debated if he wanted to answer that "That if I'm not a pure witch I'm stupid?"

James raised an eyebrow and decided it was time to turn to a pale boy.

"Hello!" he simply said

The boy nodded.

"I don't think we've met."

The boy nodded.

"I'm James!"

The boy nodded.

"And you don't talk a lot!"

He expected the boy to nod but a voice was heard this time. "Remus Lupin. You're James Potter." The boy extended his hand.

"THANK GOD!" James yelled, scaring the girl. He happily shook it. "You don't know how much I waited for you!"

The boy gave a small laugh which James accompanied. The girl joined in too just so she had something to do. When the boys stopped to stare at her she shut up and turned to the window. Then she turned to Remus and said "I'm Lily Evans! Want to be friends? I like people with a sense of humour."

The boy shrugged then realised that was rude and agreed. She started jumping up and down with joy and went to him and hugged him "You don't know how much I'm happy! I'm finally going to have friends that are like me!" she kissed his cheek and excused herself to the bathroom.

In her absence the boys started howling with laughter. The James stopped and sat on the couch sighing. Remus noticed and putting aside his condition and worried "I hope I didn't upset you or anything. Really, I didn't know she would react this way! I really don't care if she's my friend!"

James smiled "I know it's not your fault! I guess it's actually mine. No girl in this world will like me enough to become friends. Think of how much I'll sweat to have a girlfriend. Bloody hell! 11 years and still no girlfriend, no first kiss, not even a hug. Should I suicide myself? I don't even know why I am telling you this!"

"Well, people say I'm a good listener. Besides, I understand you more than you think! At least people don't talk to you like dirt!" he sighed.

James wondered what he meant and wanted to ask him but seeing his expression and the seriousness of his voice, he postponed it to another time. Besides, there were seven years in which he could ask him. This upset James even more because he already knew his life would be a mess.

They sat in silence until Lily came. She smiled at Remus, totally avoided looking at James and turned once again to the window. The rest of the journey seamed like days since none of them said a word to each other. Not even when the food lady came, nor when Sirius came and when he saw the occupants, quickly left. James appreciated the silence but when he thought about it, he preferred some noise. His motto consisted of many sayings, one of them being "if there's a problem, solve it". Nevertheless, no noise came and when they arrived at their destination, they all exhaled loudly, like they were holding their breath. They climbed of the train and decided to follow James – as much as Lily hated it – since he appeared to know where he's going. They soon found out he actually did know when they saw a giant man screaming at the top of his lungs for first years. He giant saw James and happily asked "Ye all right 'ames?"

The boy nodded sadly and turning a red shade bowed his head. The giant didn't see this and started his journey to the magical castle by the name of Hogwarts.

* * *

The rest of the walk was filled with laughter and theories from the first years. James even heard one saying to the other of the horrible dragons they'll have to face to pass the exams and how werewolves guard the exits so students don't sneak out. He mentally slapped his head at the stupidity that was surrounding him. Then again, if it weren't for special circumstances, he would be like them, happy, stupid and carefree. James sighed again. He seemed to do that a lot recently. They approached a set of boats floating in the great lake. James instantly climbed into one not waiting for the man to finish his explications.

"'ames!" the giant laughed "wait till me 'inish me story!" he turned to the rest "Me name is 'agrid! Keeper o' keys and grounds at Hogwarts! Don't mind me accent cause it's a little bit Irish. Me dad was from 'ere" Hagrid hesitated for a moment thinking he said too much "Well anyway, ye'll see me plenty when classes start so y'll quit my yappering."he turned to the boats "off ya go then, no more than four on a boat. Unless ye want to 'ave an early meeting with the giant squid."

Some people gasped at this while others yelled a "yeeeee ha!"(James saw Sirius was part of them). Then they climbed on the boats that magically started going towards the castle. James ended up with Remus and Lily and a pretty blonde girl who introduced herself as Corinne.

The ride was uneventful. Some girl fell on accident of the boat but she quickly climbed back before the squid woke up. James saw that Sirius was on that boat and was laughing hysterically. He frowned at him and turned his view towards the castle.

Even in the night's darkness he saw the mighty castle or the mighty fortress to some people. There lay the beginning of many witches and wizards both good and bad, both strong and week. James smiled at the memory of when he first saw it. But that was a long time ago and things have changed since then. He was eleven now not five and back then…

"JAMES!" James flinched and turned to Remus who was smiling. "I asked you if you had any idea of how we are sorted!"

James grinned. He first explained to Corinne and Lily (who was listening although she acted as if she wasn't) about the four subgroups at Hogwarts. Each of them had a name and a different place to stay. Their names were Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Gryffindor was known for courage and bravery, Hufflepuff for kindness and caring, Ravenclaw for smarts and studying and Slytherin for sneakiness and basically, for being the place where all dark wizards are placed. In time the traits became the way to place the children in houses (because of the large time they spent in the group and rooms they became known as houses) but many of them were influenced by their parents or friends to answer the questions in a way they were sure to be placed in a house even if they didn't belong there. So the four founders of the school, each Head of House to a group (from which the names of the group derive) began searching for a way to find to true thought and feelings of a student. Godric Gryffindor then suggested magicking an object which can distinguish what are the prime treats of every student. Rowena Ravenclaw came up with a hat and a spell to do that. However the spell was very complex and needed to be made in a dark cave protected by blood magic. The one who had to do the job needed to drink some of the poisoned water and spit it in the hat. The hat will then take the person's thoughts and a part of his life for the spell to work. However the person who would do it would be affected for life. Godric offered to go and since no one else volunteered, he went alone. After that many years went and he didn't come back. At the castle there were more and more fights between Slytherin and the other two. Since Godric was the leader of them all and disappeared, Slytherin took over and banned muggle-borns from coming. Ravenclaw didn't approve of that so Slytherin resigned. Rumour has it that he tried to revenge himself by putting a monster in a secret room and waiting for a heir to come and release it on students but no one knows anything about it. James paused a bit here glancing at Hagrid and sighed. Ten years after, Godric came looking pale and gave the hat to the remaining founders. After that he fainted and died. In honour of Godric's memory, the hat became known as Godric's hat although it didn't actually belong to him. Rowena and Helga Hufflepuff left the school to a proper Headmaster since they were getting old. They assigned 12 council members to watch over the school and make decisions if the headmaster became corrupted or worse. The hat still is the primary way to get sorted although its age is catching up with it and it tends to make mistakes.

With that, James finished his story and returned to stare at Hogwarts. The castle was getting bigger but there was still much to go. He knew his story captivated his friends and that they wanted to know more and much more about how James, a first year, knew about all this but they had to wait for another time.

* * *

Finally, they arrived at the big entrance and a big fat guy was waiting there for them. He had a big moustache and a bigger stomach. He was wearing a very expensive-looking dark green costume and a lighter green robe. James wanted to laugh at this man's tastes but he stopped himself because he didn't want to attract attention. Of course, wanting and having are two different things…

"OHO! James m'boy! How are you?" the large man said laughing and waving.

James for the thousandth time that day sighed and muttered a "fine" before going in the back trying to blend more in the crowd.

The man looked around and saw another thing that he liked.

"Sirius! How are you? It's been a while since I last saw you" Sirius sniggered "you've grown big! How are your parents? Still busy at the ministry?"

Sirius nodded "yes sir. Very hard. You know how hard it is when muggles witness magic and start telling everyone about it to wipe everyone's memories. Why, I couldn't imagine the stress they develop from the job. But you know how it is! Someone has to do it!"

James groaned at the suck-up. He knew the only reason Black was doing this was because of his future marks. Slughorn (that was the name of the chubby man) was teaching potions and was head of house of Slytherin. After Black, Slughorn talked with a boy who had grease hair named Severus. Then with Remus which James thought was weird since Remus didn't seem to know much about Hogwarts except from rumours. James grinned when he saw the disturbed face Remus was making when talking to Slughorn. James wished Remus would go in Gryffindor. He would then have a friend to talk to. He wandered if Remus liked Quidditch. He also wondered who his other room mates were. Looking around he didn't see someone he would like to share a room with. He then wondered if he would meet the girl of his dreams there. Corinne seemed nice but James was also interested in Lily's mental condition.

James began to wonder a lot about other thing and woke up only when Slughorn talked to the last student and opened the doors. James went inside for the first time he knew he was a student and, breathing the fresh air, he instantly felt at home.


	2. Carpe Diem

_Chapter two is up! I wonder what happened to me! I usually don't do so much work but it's been a hell of a boring week. If this keeps happening I think I'll finish my story by the end of the summer._

_NEAH!   
_

_I'm going away in two weeks to summer camp. I can hardly wait. Wooohooo! Well, there are two weeks left and my mother is going away for two days soon so you should expect two chapters before I leave. In case you didn't understand, my mother doesn't like the idea of me writing a story so I'm writing behind her back. I also post it as I finish. If there are mistakes I apology. I'm still looking for a beta-reader. By the way I didn't get any reviews. Does that mean you don't like my writing stile?   
_

_I'll shut up now…_

_

* * *

_

**Chapter two: Carpe Diem**

James walked in sure of himself. He was the only one though, because many of them were terrified. Even Lily looked scared. She should be, James thought, this was her first experience as a witch.

They stopped in a hallway and James thought this was going to be another corny joke of Slughorn's. But then he saw the serious expression he had and that it was pointed at him. James gulped and waited for something. He knew things were suspicious already and Remus and Lily had to have noticed something. James knew his going to school would be short but from the very first hour?

"James… why don't you go to see Minerva for a while? I've talked to her and she's waiting for you. I'll do the sorting this year!" He said smugly.

James nodded and went to the teacher's lounge. He knew every inch of the castle from when he was little and visited these parts. He was grateful he done all the visiting when it was summer because the seventh years sure would remember him. It wasn't that he minded knowing someone older than him but he didn't want to attract more questions to himself more than there was.

He finally arrived and knocked at the door. McGonagall opened it and invited him in. She let a small smile escape her usual strait lips. James went in and sat down. He knew this would be something bad.

"James… as you know you are in a difficult position. Dumbledore had had a hard time deciding if you should be left at home with your parents or come here. Since you need education and are a Potter, a very well respected family whom we have great debts to, Dumbledore let you in."

James's face lit up and began grinning like mad "However…" James swore he was expecting this "Dumbledore has special plans for you. He will discuss those with you when the time comes. Meanwhile, keep a low profile" James rolled his eyes, images of Hagrid and Slughorn coming to him "study a lot (we didn't let you in for nothing you know) and make lots of friends. Time is short Potter and you have to make the best of it. Your parents care a lot about you and I hope you're not going to disappoint them. Carpe Diem Potter! And, as Dumbledore would say, don't waste time with making enemies. Spend it making friends. You are a gifted kid Potter. Not many people have that! Also…" McGonagall said in a new firm voice, different to the earlier soft one "you should know that I don't treat my students different no matter how gifted or talented they are! Even if first and second years are going to be easy, you'll have homework for you and I expect them fully done! The other professors may treat you like a prince but IF I catch you(she practically yelled the word "if") sleeping in my class or even making a sound, I won't hesitate giving you detention! Is that clear?" McGonagall finished.

James nodded grinning and after he was excused, he ran towards the last place his new friends were. Seeing no one there, the opened the doors next to where they were and found himself in the great hall.

It was as he remembered it. A gigantic room with five tables, one for the teachers and four for the students. Above them was a ceiling that reflected the outside weather. Many wondered why they even bothered to put a ceiling at all but James didn't put to much thought in it if the ceiling puts up with his part of the job and stops the rain or snow from coming inside the castle. The room was illuminated with candles. Hundreds, maybe thousands of them floating above their heads. The sorting hat stopped singing and students started coming towards it.

James made way though to get a better view of the show. A three-legged chair with a hat seemed to be in the center of attention. James recognized the hat known as the sorting hat. He already knew what the hat would say. His family had been in Gryffindor for centuries and no stupid hat gets in the way of tradition. Besides he had plenty of courage. All those times he…the problem is he couldn't tell anyone about them. He sighed once more and turned to look for Remus. He wasn't in the room. James thought that was strange but decided to ask him later than talk to Lily about him. He saw Corinne and walked towards her and began talking about Quidditch.

People began to walk towards the chair and get sorted. The sorting hat was put on the student head and shouted the name of the house he thought was appropriate for him / her. Sometimes the sorting hat had trouble deciding and needed to converse with the student to open up his mind more. James then heard a name and hushed Corinne who looked hurt at the interruption of her replaying her talk with her mother the moment she found out she was a witch. She turned towards James's view and saw a charming boy going towards the chair. He had black hair…

Sirius was waltzing to the chair when his name was called. He bid a see you later to Peter pointing at the Slytherin table. He sat down preparing for a short stay. He waited. He waited some more. The hat began speaking.

"Hello!"

Sirius looked around not prepared for the hat to talk to him. His stay had to be short.

"Good morning!" he said charmingly remembering a advice his mother gave him ("if you want something the others can give you at least be polite to them. Unless they have dirty blood. You can just steel it from them then."). He wasn't sure if the hat was pure or not or even if it had blood at all. His mother was so ambiguous sometimes…

"It's evening but nice try" the hat laughed. Sirius swore and cursed himself for not preparing subjects to talk to living hats. "So you want in Slytherin eh?"

"Well, that's the general idea! Why?"

"Your place isn't with them!"

Sirius began worrying. What if the hat had other plans?

"Then where is my place? All my friends and family are in Slytherin. The hell I don't belong in there!"

"Those are fake friends. They would betray you in a moment if they had something to win from it."

"Of course! That's what I would do!"

"You're better than them. You could make real friends who understand you better and don't betray you!"

"And where will I find that?" Sirius laughed at the hat's absurdity! He instantly regretted saying that when he heard the hat's next words.

"In GRYFFINDOR!" the hat shouted.

The entire hall was mute to say the least! Everyone looked shocked at the idea. A Black in Gryffindor? Was the hat really turning crazy? While Peter looked like he was going to cry for being left alone, Sirius took off the walk and ran out of the hall.

James was amused of all this. Then another though crossed his mind. The Blacks belonged in Slytherin as much as the Potters belonged in Gryffindor. What if James was put there? Then he wondered what if he gets in Gryffindor also? Will they have to share a room? He hoped not! That would be barbaric.

A girl was puling his sleeve and James looked at Corinne who looked upset.

"what?" he asked innocently.

The girl snorted "nothing! Go back to your dream world. That's the most you're doing anyway!" she ran off to the hat and tried it on. James cursed himself for not paying attention to her or to her last name.

He waited one minute for the hat's answer to come. A yell of "Ravenclaw" was heard and she went to her seat. She waved at James and turned to her future new friends.

The doors opened once more and Remus came in gasping for air. He looked like he did a ten mile sprint race.

"Where have you been?" James asked raising an eyebrow.

"That's what I wanted to ask you! What did you talk to McGonagall?" Remus replied.

James paled and simply shrugged. He wasn't in the mood to talk.

"Well then that's your answer to your question!" Remus said smiling.

James grinned and turned to the hat again. So he wasn't the only one with secrets…

"Lupin, Remus!" Slughorn yelled while reading the scroll.

James muttered a "good luck" to him and saw him leave. He also saw every teacher's attention turned towards him.

Remus sat down and jumped when the immediately heard the hat talking to him.

"I've been expecting you!"

Remus looked around scared.

"Don't worry they won't hear us."

Remus exhaled but still felt fear.

"I haven't met one like you before. You're special!"

Remus laughed at the term the hat used. The truth was that he indeed had something special but that was nothing to boost about.

"You have everything. Good spirit, a talented wizard, a heart of courage and you know very well the other side of people. Hm…you're hard!"

Remus felt more nervous by the second.

James was waiting for five minutes for the hat to decide. "What's taking so long?" he asked to no one in particular. The hat seemed to be enjoying a deep conversation with Remus. James laughed. "Even the hat likes him." he muttered.

"So…what will it be? Kindness, courage, knowledge or darkness?" the hat asked.

Remus was shaking. Was it his destiny to be in Slytherin? To be evil? To hurt people like he had been hurt when he was little?

The hat seemed to notice his fears "well courage isn't your strong point that's for sure!" he laughed "maybe that's why I should place you in GRYFFINDOR!"

Every teacher began clapping along with the rest of the students. Sure they did it every time but now there was heart in their applause.

Remus headed to the gryffindors. He was practically floating from the joy. James also saw Evans there and wondered when the hell she got placed there. A more important question was why! Student by student went to the hat and tried it on. Then Peter Pettigrew was called. He stood there for ten minutes almost as long as Remus stood. Then the hat yelled "GRYFFINDOR" and Peter went happily to sit next to Sirius.

"Potter, James" Slughorn read.

James began advancing to the chair. He wasn't so sure anymore that the hat will place him where he wanted. He heard numerous people from other years wish him "good luck". Even Slughorn was encouraging James though he was wishing for him to be in Slytherin.

James sat down and felt the hat fall over him.

"Hello James!" he heard.

James replied with a "hy". He didn't know how to talk to hats. Did you have to be polite or just say whatever came to your mind?

"Dumbledore had a chat with me before the sorting started. He wanted you to go where you belong."

James smiled.

"Although he forgot to mention which house so I'll just do my job."

A horror expression passed through James's face.

The hat laughed "why does everyone wet their pants whenever they come to me? Just because I put a Black in Gryffindor doesn't mean I'm mad! On the contrary!"

"Don't worry I'm only playing with you. I know where you belong as much as you do. But I want to warn you. Don't pay attention to what people say. Think with your heart when you make decisions. And don't let anger control you. A dark age is coming. You know that. The knights of Walpurgis have been united for the first time since Grindelwald was defeated. A new dark lord is rising. Take care of what you do with your life. Time is short. Also you need to have patience. Take care of your future room mates. They'll need you in the end. And when things are tough (and I assure you they'll be) just remember 'Carpe Diem'. The decisions you make will affect the future you be careful. Some people can be forgiven for their mistakes while others are bad to the bone. It's up to you to make a difference. That's all I have to say. I trust you to always remember my words. That being you can go to GRYFFINDOR!" James got up and feeling the happiest he had ever been, went to the Gryffindor table not without wearing the hat's last words when he left. 'carpe diem'

"What happened?" Remus asked when James sat next to him.

James just laughed "what do you mean?"

"You have been sitting there longer than I and Peter have combined."

James didn't realize so much time had passed. For him it felt like seconds. He turned to look at Remus. "He just wanted to chat" James said smiling.

'Wow!' James thought. 'He really cares. The hat was right. I need to make many friends. Maybe even Sirius has a chance. The hat said he put him in Gryffindor for a reason. Maybe he isn't like I thought he is'

He glanced at the other side of the table where Sirius was and saw him stealing 2 galleons from a girl's pocket while she was chatting with Lily. James mentally slapped himself for thinking Sirius deserved a chance.

The sorting ended with Andrew Zabini. All students looked at Dumbledore waiting for his speech before the feast. Dumbledore got up and smiled at all the students.

"We start another year at Hogwarts. I don't usually do speeches before the feast because I don't want your stomach to suffer because of the ramblings of an old man. But alas I have work at the ministry. First of all, I would like to welcome the new students and wish for the older students to treat them like family. Second, besides the forbidden forest which is…forbidden, the whomping willow should also be avoided by students. I would like to add that this is for your own good as many of you, I don't doubt, will learn soon enough. I would like to welcome to the staff of Hogwarts the new caretaker, Mr. Argus Filch and Mr. Antonin Dolohov as the new defense against the dark arts professor. And now a warning: dark times are approaching. A new dark lord is rising. More powerful than Grindelwald and smarter than Merlin. In the following years many of you will not survive and some of you will go towards him to become his ally. I will certainly not point any finger at anybody. Just know this: my support is limited, I cannot offer you any guarantees but any of you who would like support shall have a place besides me. The ones that join the dark lord however will have a much darker fate. The choice is yours! Just know that we will need as much help as possible" James shrank in his seat feeling Dumbledore gazing at him "With this told, now I say farewell. Have a delicious feast and a very good night's rest!"

Dumbledore left the table and went through the same doors James had entered not long ago waiting to be sorted.

James looked down and smiled. With the leave of Dumbledore the plates were magically filed with food. Very, very, very delicious food. James spent the feast talking to Remus about the future Quidditch game and trying different kinds of food. In the middle of the feast, ghosts started coming from the walls. One was heading towards the Gryffindor table. James saw him and waved.

"Hello Nick!" James said grinning not noticing the stares he was receiving from the other first years.

"Hello James. Nice to see you got placed where you belong."

Just then a voice interrupted their conversation "Oi! Ghost-guy! Are you the one without the head?" James turned around annoyed and saw Sirius grinning.

Nick growled. He then picked out his head and nearly took it of. Nearly because there ware still 2 inches of skin gluing the head to the body. Many laughed at this but Lily nearly fainted when she saw this. She was pretty shaken when she saw him but his taking his head off was too much. Nick saw this and frowned. Then looked at Sirius.

"I don't see why you just don't go to your house and come here to upset us."

"That's the point Nick. He was sorted in Gryffindor." James explained.

Nick looked shocked and left muttering something about crazy hats and lack of respect.

When Lily finally relaxed the feast ended. They started climbing stairs towards the seventh floor and reached a portrait. A fat lady was there smiling at them. A boy who seemed to have authority said something to her and she opened the portrait. They went inside and were surprised to see a large living room with chairs and a fireplace. They went up and entered their room. A "first year" sign was over them and inside they found four beds and large suitcases that seemed to belong to the owners. James looked at his dorm mates and regretted that when he saw Sirius and Pettigrew with him. Also Remus was with them to James's joy.

Sirius began to laugh and pointed to James's bet "Ha! Your luggage didn't make it. You're stuck with what you have on you!"

James smirked and searched in his pocked. He took out some tiny things Sirius couldn't make out and took out his want. He muttered some words and the objects began growing until they reached their final size. Three trunks appeared much to Sirius's dislike.

"I shrunk them before I got on the train. Their much easier to carry you know!"

Sirius groaned and got on the bed muttering something about show-offs. James took his hint and got on the bed himself.

He felt so tired. At least he would be staying in school. For how much time James didn't knew. All he knew was that sooner or later his new "friends" would notice something and when they do bad things would happen. He didn't want to keep this secret anymore but what would Remus think if he knew? What will Sirius say? Will he tell his family or will the hat be right and Sirius is indeed not like the rest of them? Besides him Remus was having a similar conversation to himself.

James sighed and closed his eyes. He felt too tired to think properly. He delayed it for the next day. Or next week. Or next year…

James finally fell asleep. Moments from the day starting to replay in his mind. Two words sounded like an echo in his dream.

CARPE DIEM!


	3. Perfect day

_This is chapter three. Well, my mom isn't going anywhere because he has to take some medication so this is my last chapter for…two weeks. Sorry people but I have problems of my own. My bro wants to put internet on his computer too so this one will be offline till he gets something to make a connection between the both of them. Meanwhile I'll be in my only summer vacation this year. It's still in Romania__ but the other part of the country. Somewhere with hot, relaxing swimming pools and hot girls to talk to. Wish me luck! ;)_

**Chapter three: Perfect day**

The forest was unusually dark and noisy. He looked around to check if anyone was following him. Even after he didn't see anyone, he still felt frightened. What if somebody followed him? His secret will get in the hands of HIM. He didn't like that HE kept sending people for him. Why couldn't HE leave him alone?

He continued walking. A feeling, which he couldn't describe, told him to turn around and face them. He couldn't. Even if he was a Gryffindor, he always knew courage wasn't his strong point.

Wind started blowing and that was too much for him. Even the nature was trying to stop him. He couldn't do that. If he succeeded everything would be alright.

Footsteps! Where are they coming from? They were becoming louder and louder. Pretty soon that was all he was hearing. Why couldn't they just leave him alone? Why did it have to be him? Why couldn't be someone else?

But he knew the answer. He cursed. One day was all it took for his life to change. His life changed forever. Why did he have to go out? It was full moon and he knew what would happen. From that day he was a menace. His parents explained to him why. Now everybody was suffering. Because of him, because of…

"Stupefy!" an angry shout was heard behind him. He ducked. They were here! They were here for him!

He tried to think of a spell but he couldn't remember one.

Soon he was surrounded by them. He couldn't do anything.

One of them stepped forward.

"It's time to pay! You were a real pain to us. But now vengeance is ours!" his eyes were flaming. All the others were laughing.

They all in unison shot the same spell. Jets of green light had hit him in the chest. The laughter became stronger and more barbaric. One of them with red eyes smirked and taunted.

"You should have known better than to mess with us Potter!"

James woke up suddenly. He was covered in sweat. His dream had been so real. The red eyes…like snakes. No one looked like that!

Well, no one except him. James wasn't really sure who HE was. There were many different names. Some thought he was Grindelwald reincarnated. Some said he was worse than him.

James thanked god that he was the only one in the room. He didn't need Sirius's tease or Remus's worried looks. Though he could have at least waited to go with him to breakfast. This was the first day at school and they needed to get to know each other.

"It's got to be me." James thought "how did he find out?"

The common room was empty much to James disappointment. That meant he had to go alone there. How much was the time anyway?

The hunger was eating him alive by the time he got in the great hall. All faces turned to him when he entered. He shrugged and sat next to Remus who was eating alone.

"Why didn't you wait for me?"

Remus was pale and shaking. "Sorry I had to go to the hospital wing!"

James analyzed him and accepted the apology. "Fine but next time, take me with you."

Remus paled even more if that was possible. Without replying he continued to eat.

James joined him but something was still bothering him.

"Where's Black and…the other guy?" for some reason he couldn't remember his name.

Remus pointed at the end of the table. "They tried to go to the slytherins but were rejected and mocked at. The other one is Peter Pettigrew."

James nodded "Maybe now they'll realize how bad those guys are."

Remus shook his head. "He said it's our entire fault he's here in the first place and that he understands them."

Just then a lot of noise erupted from somewhere above them. Owls flied above them giving mail to students. James laughed at the wizard's idea of communicating with each other.

Gasps were heard from the Gryffindor table and James turned to look ignoring the owl that just came to him.

Sirius Black was holding a red envelope that was shaking furiously. He began to open it but he letter seemed to go faster than him and tore itself apart. A screeching sound was heard in the entire room belonging to a woman.

"HOW DARE YOU SIRIUS BLACK DO THIS TO US? HOW DARE YOU END UP WITH GRYFFINDOR SCUM INSTEAD OF SLYTHERIN? YOU ARE A DISCACE TO THIS FAMILY AND COMMUNITY. YOU MIGHT AS WELL MARRY A MUDBLOOD FOR ALL WE KNOW! IF YOU DON'T CHANGE YOUR HOUSE BY THE END OF THIS YEAR YOU AREN'T COMING HOME ANYMORE!" with that the letter started to burn and soon it was only ashes.

Sirius sat there staring at the remains of the letter. Tears started forming in his eyes. Then he got up and ran out of the great hall. Peter grabbed his things and got up attempting to go with him but Remus was faster and got in front of him, stopping him.

"Look, he's hurt right now and doesn't know where his future lies. It's best to just leave him alone for a while. Trust me!"

Peter looked at Remus as if thinking what was wrong with him. Then he shook his head and tried to go past him. Remus however was stronger and held him tight.

"You're wrong!" Peter said "he needs me because I'm the only thing he has and the only one that understands him. The sorting hat…told me…"

Remus raised his left eyebrow not understanding the last sentence "The sorting hat what?"

Peter looked terrified at Remus not sure if he was saying too much. "The sorting hat…he told me Sirius was weak and that I have to help him now more than ever. That I'll be rewarded if I do" Peter smiled.

Remus was disgusted and was about to comment but Peter lost all patience. "Look it's not only about the reward! He's my friend! I have to help him! I MUST! You're…you're a gryffindor! You're with them!" he pointed an accusing finger at the table where many gryffindors, including James, were. "You don't want Sirius to get better, you want him to suffer! Get out of the way! LEAVE ME ALON…mph!"

Peter was creating pretty much attention by the time James got there and put his hand on Peter's mouth to stop him from shouting. Nevertheless, the entire room was looking at them, whispering.

James turned to Remus and whispered in his ear "Look, you can't stop him. I know he shouldn't run after Black but you see that he can't be convinced. Let him go! Sirius could already be in the other end of the castle so I don't think Peter will have much luck." James let go of Peter and he went out the door running.

Remus looked at Peter's retreat with disgust. "You know what that…thing told me? That the hat said that if he supported Sirius he would get a reward. That's the only motive he was going after him!"

James shrugged "he and the rest of the world! That's all you see these days. Don't you ever listen to WWN? People kill for power these days!" he said grim.

Remus shook his head "yeah but we can't stop them! But him…" he pointed at the door "after things cool down we have to do something about him. About both of them! Or we'll have a serious problem" he said not noticing the pun.

James nodded "Couldn't agree more. But have patience Remus. Take it easy! We have seven years to do that!"

James left to finish his lunch but Remus just starred at the floor "maybe for you but not for me…"

* * *

Sirius was already by the lake when Peter got to him. They both smiled at each other. Though Peter was not much fun, he was always there for him when he needed him.

"Hey…" Peter muttered.

"Hey."

They both looked at the lake for a while before Peter broke the silence.

"I'm sorry for what happened there. It isn't your fault. Hogwarts has gone mad. The hat…the hat's stupid."

Sirius continued to stare "Maybe not. Maybe I'm not like them. Maybe I'm like Potter or Lupin."

Peter snorted "those guys don't deserve to live. They're nothing more than a joke played on us. Come on Sirius! Don't change now! That's what they want from you. The fight between good and bad finished and now there's the fight for power. If you want to live your life don't change!"

Sirius continued to stare at the lake. Thousands of questions racing through his mind. Dumbledore's speech from last night echoing in his mind. Good…bad…power…

He finally shrugged "guess you're right. I'm not about to become friends with mudbloods because some cooks say so. My family is more important. I'll explain to them what happened. By the time this week is over I'll be in Slytherin." He turned to Peter "both of us!"

Peter was ecstatic "well said! Here! I brought your stuff. Class starts in ten minutes.

Sirius nodded "what's first?"

Peter checked "defence against the dark arts."

"Oh right. It's that creepy fellow Dumbledore presented. I think I've seen him before…"

* * *

By the time they got there the only seats left were in front. James and Remus were in the second row not looking very pleased.

"We couldn't find a toilet and by the time we got here these were the only good seats left." James explained.

Sirius yawned and sat in his "bad" seat in front of James and Peter got stuck in front of Remus.

5 minutes passed until the professor came. His steps were confident opposed to his worn face. James knew him from last year's Christmas party at the ministry. He heard he was come kind of Auror with special missions. No one knew why he was here but something in James's stomach told him he was the cause.

"Hello everybody! I'm Antonin Dolohov. I'm an Elite Auror. I have the best record for shooting curses in 30 years." He said smugly

A kid raised his arm.

"Yes…er…"

" Firenze. Corinne Firenze." The blonde said smiling. "Is it true that your job is to hunt AND kill criminals? Why must you kill them?"

James grinned at her. She was soooo much pretty and so determined. Why hadn't she said hello when he came? Was she still mad? What if he misses his chance and she goes with another boy because he blew it the last night?

James shook his head but continued to gaze at her.

Dolohov cleared his trough. "Well, some criminals are very dangerous and the only way to get them is by the killing curse. It's all necessary and I assure you it's dreadful but I have to do what is right."

This time Remus raised his hand and without presenting himself started "than why did you kill Romulus Wolfsbane two years ago? He didn't do anything illegal. And it wasn't his fault for what he was."

Dolohov seemed to analyse Remus for a while "you're Lupin right? I've heard of you." Remus paled " Romulus's condition was…fragile. If I hadn't done what I've done innocent people could have been hurt!"

"You could have stunned him. It's not that hard! It wasn't his bloody fault. He died because of stupid conceptions!"

"Mr. Lupin that is enough! You don't have any right to question my motives! And if any of you say anything more house points will be taken. LUPIN! My office today at nine. We need to have a chat."

Remus nodded not showing any fear.

"Everybody turn to page 5. Today we'll be learning about what are dark arts."

"What the hell is wrong with you? Are you always like this?" James yelled at Remus when he class finished.

Remus looked furious "No, it's just my special day!"

James gaped "What? Like the one girls have?" he asked confused.

Remus just turned his head "Nothing! I knew you wouldn't understand! Just…leave it! Forget I said anything." After that he stormed off.

James smiled after seeing he was left alone "this day just keeps getting better and better!" he laughed putting his hands behind his head and walking coolly to his next class: Charms.

* * *

AN: yeah, yeah, short I know but that's the best I can do. Next time it'll be longer. It'll have the rest of the classes and more secrets that surround our characters are developed. Well, see you in two weeks!


	4. classes and talks

_Hello again people. I have two reviews so far! Thanks guys! That means a lot to me! To everybody else, please review! I want to know if you like it or not! Any suggestions would be helpful! I know the chapters are short but I nearly gave up on the story to recover from my stupid vacation. Dear god, it was horrible! I fell in love with my best friend and she fell with a git I knew from last year. I tried to tell her he was bad news but she wouldn't believe, or should I say trust me so she went out with him anyway. Then I told her that I love her and she got mad at me for betraying her. I don't know a lot about women but what is my fault that I like her? Now we aren't friends anymore and when we do talk (only by yahoo messenger) we argue a lot and end up hating each other more. I don't even know if I liked her or I felt the need to protect her but after what she said to me I don't know if I want to be friends with her ever again. I guess I'm telling you this because I need to put it out of my system and to explain future update delays. I just need to be alone for a while with my thoughts you know? Anyway here's the chapter: _

**Chapter four: Classes and talks **

Charms was exciting to say the least. The professor seemed to know that there were difficulties between the students and paired them up nicely. Sirius got to be with James and Peter with Remus. Then the professor started explaining the year's and general Charms. Then he put them to read the first chapter and went to do some "business" leaving the students to talk to each other.

"Hey Potter! What's with you and the professors?" Sirius asked.

James paled but quickly regained his composure "none of your damn business Black! Sorry but I have work now!"

But Sirius wasn't going to let James get out that easy "actually it is my damn business. All the professors seem to like you. I want to know if your family is trying to pull something."

That was true. Both the defense and charms professors smiled when they got to James and treated him like their son.

"Well then, good luck with your search! I'm not going to help you."

"I wasn't counting on that. I just want you to know that I'm not frightened by you. I can do some investigating and find out by myself. Don't say I didn't warn you!"

James laughed "AGAIN...good luck with your search. Tell me if you find out anything."

"You can count on that!"

Meanwhile Peter and Remus were having an interesting conversation of their own.

"So…Peter…had any good rewards recently?" Remus asked smirking.

"None of your damn business!" Peter replied angry.

"I don't know what's up with you Pettigrew but I don't like it. Why are you like this? Why do you care so much about yourself?"

Peter stuck out his tongue very childish "if you must know I have some very good friends that care for me"

"I'm glad Sirius gives a damn about you but again, you never said anything about you caring for him."

Peter gritted his teeth "I do care for him. You are you bugging me so much? Leave me alone! Bother someone else!"

Remus rolled his eyes "we're going to be staying in the same dorm for the next sever years. I think it's a good idea to know each other."

"Yeah well…your breath stinks!" Peter said triumphantly.

Remus smacked his own head at the stupidity and went back to reading.

Ten minutes were passed in silence before Flitwick (their professor) came.

"Sorry for the absence. We still have five minutes so what we'll do is learn basic wand movements."

Then he took out his wand and made a rotating gesture with it.

"This is what I call swish. You just need to do a perfect circle with it and end it in the exact point that you started for a well done job. Also try to keep the wand as far away as possible from the face. Many students swished their eye out trying to do a sonorous spell and never got it back."

Many students laughed at this but James saw that he wasn't joking.

"Now I want you all to try this and for next time I need you all to know to do it perfectly."

A groaning sound was heard from the muggleborns while the others cheered because either they knew how to do it or the concept was that simple.

Next they had Transfiguration. McGonagall kept her promise and treated James like the others. She even yelled at him when he came two minutes late because of a "toilet problem".

Unfortunately, Remus, who still wasn't talking to James, was sitting with a Hufflepuff James recognized as Dedalus Diggle. The only seat not taken was with Lily Evans.

James sighed and sat with her. They each eyed each other venomously as a greeting but other then that none seemed to notice the presence of the other.

McGonagall scanned the class once before continuing what seemed to be the subject presentation.

"Like I was saying before Mr. Potter here interrupted me" she glared at James "I expect my students to be in top form all the time. I will not care if the other professors give you a lot of homework. Transfiguration is as much important as the other subjects. Might I say more important in some cases." She added with a frown "this year we'll be studying simple transfiguration like transforming a needle into a match and vice versa. Next year we begin doing bigger objects and by the end of your seventh year I expect some of you to become animagi. Animagi if you didn't know is the ability to transform into an animal of your choice not using a wand. Let me demonstrate."

In two seconds their teacher began growing fur. Then she began to shrink. Next cat ears began to grow and her glasses disappeared. In no time the class was staring at a cat.

The cat began to patrol in the class and occasionally hissed at distracted students. She jumped at Peter's desk and nearly scratched him because he was laughing at some joke Sirius said.

After she completed her lap of the class, she went to her desk and transformed to normal. Even her glasses appeared on her nose like she never took them off. Everyone was gaping then they began to applause and cheer. McGonagall didn't seem to enjoy the attention because everyone suddenly lost their voice.

"I will not push the matter of animagi until sixth year when we do human transfiguration. Meanwhile you will learn, or should learn in some cases, other important spells that will be useful in your future job. Now I want you all to open your books at page five and read "the introduction to transfiguration". By next week I want a parchment page of your own opinions of how transfiguration is useful in life"

Everyone groaned at the thought of homework in the first day and opened their books. James for one got bored after the third sentence and dozed off. It took Lily five nudges to wake him up and get his attention.

"Why are you sleeping?"

"Because I don't give a damn about what the book says. And I already know this stuff."

"Don't be a showoff. Many don't have the same luck you have you know."

"Yeah but I do have my luck so I don't need to read that thing."

"At least don't sleep anymore. McGonagall will see me next to you and give both of us detention."

"Tell that to somebody who cares Evans." James said dryly.

"You don't know how it is to be me Potter. You have your perfect family and your perfect wizard life. I'm not like that. I come from a muggle family where we don't need to wave a stick and make everything better. We have to work for them and I want to learn as much as possible to help them."

James yawned "first of all Evans, my life is not that simple. Trust me if you would know what it is to be me you would be thankful for you life. Second of all," James didn't want to push the subject of his life to anyone, let alone Evans "we don't just wave a wand. Do you even know what it is to be a wizard? Things are not that simple you know! Sure work is so much better to do with a wand but we have other worries to you know!"

"Like what?" Lily asked interested.

James wasn't expecting that question "Well…um…wizards can Apparate from place to place. What if a wizard appears when you're naked or something?"

Lily raised an eyebrow.

"And…um…we have bad people who know black magic. They can kill you in an instant if you're not careful. I bet you aren't thinking of how cool it is that dishes do themselves when a killing curse comes to you."

Lily nodded but insisted "we have murderers too you know."

James snorted "yeah! Killing people with a small ball that can be taken out of their body anytime."

"But what if the bullet goes through someone heart? "

"Can't you take it out? We can!"

"Exactly!"

James realized than he just jumped in Lily's trap.

"And guns are not all muggles do. They stab you with a knife, they drawn you, they crush you with cannonballs; lately they invented a weapon that kills of entire cities without giving them a way to defend. The atomic bomb. I don't think even wizards can defend themselves against it. But what's worse, some sick, sick people take pleasure in it. They kill for pleasure. They take lives and they laugh. Some even take women or children, rip their clothes, force them to do horrible things, they don't care about their crying, their suffering, their hurt, and after they enjoyed themselves they kill the people they put to do those things. Slow, painful death."

James was shaking from fear. He didn't know muggles can be that horrible. For once he was glad that the killing curse was quick. Lily was shaking too. James didn't know why but he felt the need to comfort her. Sure, she's a pain to him but he got the feeling that Lily suffered a lot in her past and that made him forget all the dislike for her. Still being kids at the age and, James remembered, they were still in class, all he could do was pat her back. Lily turned to him and smiled. James felt something was flying in his stomach.

They stayed like that for a minute before Lily spoke "you know what Potter? You're ok!"

James grinned "not too bad yourself Evans!"

Lily laughed "I'm sorry I yelled at you yesterday. I thought all pure bloods were stuck-up gits. Guess I was wrong."

"Well, you were acting strangely."

"Yeah but you have to admit I couldn't know that you are different. Most like you think they are too good to look at me."

"But you shouldn't judge me for my blood. That would make you as worse as those guys."

"So you're comparing me to those gits? You think I'm anything like them? I guess I was right after all. You are an idiot!"

James sighed "here we go again!"

Lily looked at him "what did you say?" she asked bitterly.

"I don't like when we fight. Look, I'm sorry; I shouldn't compare you with them. They are scum and you're not."

"That's much better. I mean, you don't see me walking around like I own the place just because my parents have the dumb luck to be wizards."

James bit his lip "right. Are we friends?" he asked taking out his hand to shake hers.

Lily looked at him "I'll think about it…" turning back to read without even looking at his hand.

James groaned.

Remus didn't come to lunch or dinner so the only opportunity James had to talk to him was in their dorm. But when James came in Remus already packed his suitcases and was heading out.

"Woah! What are you doing Remus?" James asked.

Remus glared at him "None of your business Potter! Let me go!"

"So it's Potter now huh? So what we aren't friends anymore? Are you moving?"

Remus didn't like that he was interviewed "Move away from me Potter! No I'm not moving. I'm just going away for a few days to visit my mother. She's…sick."

James looked Remus in the eyes. He didn't believe a word Remus was saying but he felt he didn't need to push the subject further. He knew what was like to have secrets and he felt Remus had one now. He stepped aside but he still needed to know something.

"We still friends?"

Remus ignored him and went out the dorm.

"We still friends?" James repeated but he still didn't get an answer.

"You can be my friend!" a voice said behind him.

James turned to find Sirius grinning at him. He jumped startled because he didn't saw Sirius when he came in.

Sirius saw his movement and explained "I was under my bed searching for something when Lupin came in. It was too much of an opportunity to pass so I stayed there hoping he would talk while he was packing."

James hesitated to ask. "And?" he finally said.

"That boy is as silent as a dead man. Quite a rare specie. I myself talk a lot when I'm by myself or when there's someone else in the room."

James couldn't help to say "I noticed."

James was glad Remus was a quiet man. He thought what would have happened if Sirius heard his secret. James made a note to himself to not talk loudly to himself ever. It seems at Hogwarts walls DO have ears. Very big ones James noticed looking at Sirius.

"…and I always pay attention!" Sirius finished.

James looked at him strangely. Sirius had been talking the whole time and James didn't even notice. That was happening a lot lately. Luckily, Sirius didn't notice James wasn't listening to him so he went to his bed and started changing into his pajamas. James shrugged and went to change himself. Something was bothering him.

"Hey where's Pettigrew?" James asked realizing his absence.

Sirius looked around the room stupidly "Well, he's not in here. Maybe he forgot the password and can't come in."

James raised his eyebrow "and you're not at all worried?"

Sirius shrugged "neah! Pete's a capable guy. He can manage by himself. He always does."

James wondered if those two were really friends or not. Then again Sirius did receive a howler today from his parents so it was normal to not care about the others for a while and be alone. But still…

James fell asleep five minutes after, dreams of dark forests coming to him not letting him rest. Now a dark shadow was running with him. The shadow had claws and big teeth but its voice sounded like Remus's.

** AN: please, please, please review! **


	5. The first week

_Woohoo! Another chapter! I'd like to thank a lot to my new beta mellyone. This chapter tells about the first week of Hogwarts so there isn't any plot development yet just hints. But there will be soon. I added humor for a change. But if it's not funny blame it on "FRIENDS" (I started watching it on my computer). Please read and review. It will mean a lot to me. :) _

**Chapter Five: The First Week **

One week passed before Remus came back. James was sitting by himself in the common room when he came. He walked past James without recognizing him and shut himself in his room. When James came to check on him he only received an "I'm not in the mood!" answer from him.

Spending the first week of what would be the best seven years of his life between Sirius and Lily had been very scary for James. Sure he understood that Remus had to go to his sick mother or wherever he had gone but couldn't he have just delayed the trip for a day or two?

Sirius, James hated to admit, had been fun. Even if they weren't friends and still insulted one another they had a great time. James discovered that Sirius liked to prank people. While it was bad news for the possible victims, James had to admit it was fun for the others. Especially when Sirius charmed Evans's hair to get into her face every time she was talking. She needed a whole day to realize something was wrong and another day to wait for Madame Pomfrey (the school nurse) to figure out the counter-curse. James didn't want to know where Sirius knew all that stuff from.

Peter had been absolutely dull and obsessive. Every time James talked to him he only received answers like yes, no, I don't give a damn and some that James didn't want to remember, and when Sirius came he started talking non-stop about things like toilets (How do they work actually? Did muggles take the idea from us? Is there really a crocodile at the end?), ignoring James completely. Once he heard Peter complaining to Sirius at dinner (James sat detached to them by four people) that James doesn't leave him alone and that they shouldn't even talk to him. James made a promise to himself to never trust him.

The only friend James had this week was Lily. Even though she still was a pain, she had been kind enough to talk to James from time to time when she saw him sitting by himself. They talked about anything, once the subject of family even came up. He had just finished lunch and didn't have anymore classes until Monday so he was walking with Lily towards the common room.

* * *

"Hey um…so what is it like to live with muggles?" James asked awkwardly.

"Why do you ask?" Lily replied.

"It's just out of curiosity. I always wanted to have their life, to not be able to do magic, not that I brag or anything." James learned that if he wanted to be friends with Lily, he would have to be very careful of what he said.

"Well, there's nothing special about my family. My mom is a lawyer. She wins a lot of money. I think she supports us more than my dad does." Lily replied.

"And what does your dad do?"

"Will you let me finish?" Lily asked frustrated. "As I was saying, my mom is a lawyer. It's something like, well if, let's say a man was accused of killing a woman but he actually didn't my mom would ask him questions to decide if he did indeed killed her or if he was just in the wrong place."

"Yeah, I know what a lawyer is. We had them too before the truth potion was made."

"Yes and?" She was beginning to look angry.

"And I didn't know that's what they were doing there. I always thought they were family members comforting the guy." He said grinning.

She eyed him for a moment. "Anyway," James exhaled loudly as she continued, "My dad is a taxi driver. It's like a train driver but with cars. And he gets paid for driving people to their work."

"It must be fascinating to meet so many people."

"He hates it."

"Oh."

"He wanted to be an architect. That's a man who makes a lot of drawings of houses and gets paid a lot. But he couldn't find any job offers so he had to do this job for a while."

"Cool!"

"Anyway my sister,"

"You have a sister?"

"Yeah, don't interrupt me."

James had to retain himself from groaning.

"My sister is still at school. Muggles have to go to some places to learn different things about their future jobs. Some grown-ups teach them about different subjects. And they have different subjects too. Like somebody tells them about numbers and somebody about history. It's really nice."

"Yes, I really wonder what that is like." James said sarcastically looking around the hall.

"Well, it's interesting." She said not paying attention to anything around her. "What about your parents?" She asked.

"Eh?"

"How is living with wizards like? Do you get to blow up stuff in the house a lot?"

"Well, I'm not allowed to but accidents happen."

"Where do they work?" She asked.

"They don't. They're retired. My mom is ninety years old and my dad is one hundred."

"And you are eleven." She said.

"I was their miracle child. For some reason they couldn't have a baby until they were retired. Then when they tried, they found out some things aren't working right if you know what I mean." James sniggered while

Lily just glared at him.

"Anyway, after ten years of trying my mom finally got pregnant. Nine months later she went to the hospital and got me blown."

Lily erupted into giggles after hearing what James said.

"She what?" She barely managed to ask without laughing.

"She had me blown. Why?"

Again more laughter was heard.

"She blew you up?" She asked holding her stomach.

"Well, yes! She went to the hospital and the healers made a simple birthing charm. The whole procedure is called blowing. That's because the mother has to blow air into a basket so the baby could find his place when teleported from the uterus.

Lily stopped laughing "They don't cut the skin of the mother?"

"Why would they do that?" James asked.

"Muggles do it!"

"Muggles are weird!" James decided, but regretted saying it when he saw Lily's face.

"Not as weird as two people giving birth when they're eighty." She retorted.

"What if they did? Wizards have a longer life than most muggles. Dumbledore is like a hundred and fifty but you don't see him dieing anytime soon. I think it's because of the magic we have."

"Wizards have it all!" She said frustrated.

"Hey! Before we had this life was pretty hard. Most of our charms are new but back in the Middle Ages we had it rough."

"What job did you say your parents had?" She asked again.

"I…I didn't." James was taken aback by the sudden change of subject.

"Well, say it now!"

"I…I can't they'll kill you."

There was a long pause before Lily started to laugh. "No seriously what job?"

"Um…they were ministry people."

"Really? I'm interested in ministry jobs. Did they work in muggle wing or wizard?"

"Um…my mom was in International Magical Cooperation and my dad um….Accidental Magic Reversal."

"That's so cool!" She exclaimed.

"Yeah," He said relieved. "I know."

"How do you get along with them?" She asked.

"Nicely, you know how children always wish that their grandparents were actually their parents because they always treat them much better?" James asked.

"Yeah." She said

"Well, I actually have that. They always spoil me and I always have a say in their decisions."

"Doesn't it get boring to have everything?" She asked.

"I'm not that spoiled. Anyway my town knows me as well as the whole ministry. My parents were great people so they are loved and appreciated a lot. I also learn a lot of things." He said winking to her.

"Like what?"

This only caused James to grin "_Flagrate!_"

His wand turned to a dark shade of red. James made a swishing move with it and a fire circle appeared. Then James made a beautiful horse in the air but it vanished several moments after he completed it. He turned to Lily to see her in shock.

"ARE YOU CRAZY? WHAT IF THAT WAND TOUCHED ME? WHAT IF I DIED? MY PARENTS WOULD BE LEFT WITHOUT A DAUGHTER!"

She then stormed off leaving a perplexed James staring into space.

"Great job Potter. You really wooed her there." Sirius said turning from around the corner with Peter besides him.

"Yeah, if you keep this up you'll get the mudblood in only thirty years." Peter replied laughing at his own joke.

"I don't remember inviting you here. Don't you have to kiss Slughorn's ass or something?" James replied back

"Why do you care if we kiss ass or not?" Peter asked triumphantly.

"Great job Pete. Now you cornered him!" Sirius whispered mockingly to Peter then turned to James. "Potter if you have troubles with the ladies why don't you come to me for help? Your chances would increase a lot."

"Chances of what, exactly? Making a fool of myself? No thanks! And, if you must know, Evans isn't my interest. She's just a friend!"

"Wow! A friend and a lunatic! You hit the jackpot with the mudblood Potter." Sirius laughed walking past him to the common room.

"Hey Black!" James called.

"Yeah?"

"You can insult me as much as you want but if you call Lily a mudblood one more time the next time you wake up it will be in St. Mungo's."

Sirius studied James for a moment "Don't tell me what to do!" He said turning his back to him.

"Yeah, he can do whatever he wants!" Peter said.

"Pettigrew I don't remember asking you anything. You can run off now to your buddy." James said.

"I will do whatever I want!" Peter yelled running to catch up with Sirius.

James, left alone in the hall, sighed and looked behind him to see if anyone else was coming. No one was.

* * *

James was still thinking of the memory of what happened two days ago when Remus opened the door to let him in half an hour later. Remus muttered an apology to James for letting him wait but didn't say anything else.

"How is your mom?" James asked.

"Better. She was really sick! I think its cancer but she didn't give me many details." Remus said.

James was shocked. He didn't think his mom had anything at all but he knew Remus, or thought he knew, and he wouldn't lie about his mom having cancer unless it was serious.

"Wow! I'm sorry."

"Hm? Why?" Remus asked confused.

"Well, at first I didn't believe you! I thought you were hiding some big secret or something." Remus paled. "But wow cancer is a serious thing. Mate I'm so sorry I doubted you. I hope you forgive me." James said.

"Ok. Sure I forgive you! What are friends for?" Remus said faking laughter.

He opened a trunk and took off his shirt to change. James saw the many wounds and cuts on Remus's back and hands.

"What happened to you?" James asked shocked.

"Nothing, what do you mean?" Remus asked confused.

James pointed a finger at Remus's arm.

"Oh that! I….um had a problem with the dog."

"What kind of dog do you have? A Cerberus?" James asked.

"No! He only has one head! There was a lot of smoke and the smell of alcohol was in the air so he must have lost his temper and attacked the first thing he saw." Remus lied.

"Your mother has cancer and she drinks and smokes?" James asked confused.

"No my family had a barbecue."

"Was it in honor of your sick mother?" James asked.

Remus looked ready to kick him. James sighed.

"Look. It's not my business what your family does. I'm sorry your mother is sick and that you have a cute man eating puppy. Why don't you go and see Madame Pomfrey about those wounds and I unpack your bags." James offered.

"That's not necessary." Remus said uneasily. "I already saw her. She said to come by her office tomorrow."

"Well, then I'll help you."

"No! Um….I can unpack by myself. Go talk to somebody and I'll come down in a moment." Remus said.

"James?" Remus said as James turned to leave.

"Yeah?" He replied

"Why don't you talk to her?"

James's mouth fell in shock. He took a moment to think running his hand through his hair.

"How do you know?" He asked.

"It's obvious. Since the moment you met there was a spark between you two."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Even if you fight a lot everyone sees the truth." Remus said.

"Huh?"

"So what if she is really weird? All of that won't matter if you get together." Remus said.

"Weird? Wait! Who are you talking about?"

"Evans. Why?"

"I was talking about Corinne!"

"Oh! OH! So you don't…."

"NO!"

"Great because I think it would have been a bad choice. Now about Corinne, have you talked to her?"

"I tried!"

That was true. James actually made a try during Astronomy.

* * *

"So do you like looking at the sky?" James asked her.

"Yeah my dad is a star reader. He can tell the future from looking at their position." She replied.

"So what is your future?" He asked in a flirting tone.

"I'm going to die when I'm fourteen years old."

"Oh!" Was all James managed to say.

* * *

"She told me her father said she will die in three years."

"I hate it when that happens!" Remus replied mockingly.

"I know it's stupid! Nobody can predict future. We make our own lives. But she thinks so highly of her father it's hard to convince her that it's a lie. Oh and don't tell her you know about this. She isn't supposed to say that to anyone."

"What are you going to do about her?" Remus asked.

"I don't know. She gets really upset when she talks to me. And every time we talk her death comes up."

"You just have to wait for her to turn fourteen. She'll see that she isn't dead and you'll have a clear path with her. Meanwhile get to know her. If there are other boys after her she'll go out with the one she trusts the most." Remus said.

"That's actually a good idea." James said.

"Try to act less surprised."

"It's just…..you don't look like a woman attractor."

"Then again, you look like one but don't act it." Remus shot back.

James blushed a bit.

"So do you have any preferences?" James asked.

"Unlike you, I've only been in school for a day and a half."

"I'm sure you'll find someone soon." James said encouragingly.

"Yeah." Remus said with a sigh.


	6. The dark sign

_Hey guys! Chapter six is done…as you all can see! This marks the tiny beginning of the plot. Voldemort has finally come into the open and the wizarding world got a taste of what he can do. I want to thank my beta reader mellyone for helping me out and also I want to say that I'm not JKRowling. Heck! I'm not even a woman, I don't live in Edinburgh, I don't have children and all my money goes away with a bag of chips but I heard they delete stories if the owners don't repeat it enough. _

**Chapter six: The dark sign **

Four weeks had passed since James stepped foot in Hogwarts. With the start of October, the autumn cold came and everybody was freezing. Eating breakfast in the Great Hall, James saw many students coming with more than two sweaters covering them. Even some of the professors were constantly placing heating charms even before the last spell's effects wore off. When James wanted to talk to Remus about the sudden cold, he saw him staring at the paper.

"What's wrong?" James asked.

He had to repeat the question to get Remus's attention.

"Read for yourself!" Remus said pushing the Daily Prophet in front of James.

The cover had a moving picture. James learned from Lily that muggle images stayed still all the time. He wondered what the point of that was. The picture in front of him had a ruined house glowing with a greenish color. Above it, in the sky, was a green skull with what seemed like a snake coming from its mouth. The title said: MUGGLE ATTACK IN LONDON. FAMILY OF THREE KILLED BY EVIL DARK LORD, DETAILS ON PAGE FIVE.

"Did you read it?" James asked.

Remus shook his head "No I just got it. We'll read together."

James nodded and opened the newspaper.

_THE DARK LORD STRIKES! _

_Last night a muggle family was attacked and killed by the new Dark Lord. Neighbours say five people popped out of nowhere on the street. The attack was fast and lasted no more than ten minutes. The cause of death was the killing curse. It seems that after killing them, one shouted some word and a green flash came out of his stick (known to wizards as wands) and a skull drawing with a snake appeared on the sky. Aurors didn't find out what spell was said although no curse like this has ever been heard of before, not even the great Albus Dumbledore could figure it out. _

"Hey did you see Dumbledore at the table last night?" James asked.

"No but I didn't think much of it because he always seems to go to the Ministry." Remus replied.

James looked at the professor table where McGonagall was saying something to Dumbledore and pointing at her own newspaper but he said a few words and continued eating without looking. James turned to read the rest of the article.

_Witnesses say one of them, he appeared to be the tallest, came in the middle of the street making a threat. Aurors helped us out and we can tell you exactly what those words were. _

_"The time of the Dark Lord has come. Behold the first victims! Along with them will come many more. Those who stand in his way will suffer the same fate. Those who want to join us will be welcome as long as his blood is clear. Beware enemies of the Dark Lord!" _

_We will keep you in touch as we get news. If you have any leads on the new Dark Lord please send them to us. _

James looked at Remus when he finished reading. Remus had his usual pale face he had when something was wrong.

"So these guys just come and say "Hey, the Dark Lord sent us. We want to say that you all will be killed but good news! You still have a week to live. See you then!"? I mean that's sick!" James said frustrated.

Remus nodded "And not only muggles are targeted, muggle borns, half bloods and others too!"

"I'm sorry! I know your mom is a muggle so that puts you on the list too."

"Yeah." Remus whispered "I can't believe this!"

"If it makes you better, know that I'm on the list too. My parents may be pure-bloods but everybody knows how connected to muggles they are."

"How exactly does that make me feel better?" Remus said annoyed.

"I don't know! Maybe because I can understand you better."

"No you can't! No one can!"

Just then Sirius's laughter was heard from the other side of the table. Peter's hair had been transformed into green. He was holding his cup of pumpkin juice so Sirius must had slipped a potion in while Peter wasn't looking.

"Look how happy they are! They don't have anything to care about! All they do is have fun, fun and more fun." Remus said disgusted.

"I don't know. Black already has three howlers and he still didn't move to Slytherin. And if I heard right he won't ever move. Every time he sends a request to the governors, the owl gets lost. I think Dumbledore has something to do with this."

"Yeah but he could go there or put his parents to do it."

"Maybe but Dumbledore sure as hell won't allow him to move!"

"Why though? I would love it if he moved!"

"He knows Black is better than this. I feel it too."

"And Pettigrew?" Remus said irritated.

"He's just Black's pet. Wherever he goes, "Petty" goes with him."

"Alright so what if he can't move? What then?"

"Didn't you hear his mother barking in the whole Hall? I bet they disown him."

"Come on, James! He's still their son" Remus said looking at Sirius who was still laughing at Peter "Acts like one too!"

"I guess! I still want to break him though, make him see the truth."

"Why is it so important to you that he changes?" Remus asked frustrated.

"The hat said something to me that made me think. It's like if Black changes there will still be hope for me."

"Eh? Hope?" Remus asked.

"Never mind!" James replied going in his own little world again.

Ten minutes later James felt Remus crushing his feet.

"Remus please stop killing my feet." James pleaded.

"Sorry but look!" Remus said pointing at the girl running out the great hall.

James gasped. That was Corinne crying.

"I wonder what made her cry." He said turning to Remus.

"Go find out!" Remus said.

"Now?"

"Now!" Remus yelled exasperated "Be her friend! Take care of her! Hug her or something!"

James nodded although Remus could see from his face that he wasn't actually thrilled with the idea.

James ran out after her and the moment he left the Great Hall, Sirius came looking like it was Christmas to him.

"Did Potter run out to comfort her?"

"Yeah why?" Remus asked curious.

Sirius laughed for a while, tears almost coming out of his eyes.

"Was this your idea?" Sirius managed to ask.

"Sure" Remus shrugged.

"Dear God Lupin! I judged you wrong! You are brilliant!"

"Huh?" Remus asked puzzled.

"Potter is the most horrible person with women. He can't even talk to them right. I heard him yesterday talking to Evans about buggers. Two weeks before he almost set her on fire!"

"He what?" Remus asked shocked.

"Not really but Evans thought so. He just wanted to make a horse!" Sirius said laughing.

"And yesterday?" Remus inquired

"He was telling her that it was so cold he was glad that his bugger kept his nose warm. Then he started telling her a joke about them."

"Dear God!" Remus said shocked.

"Lupin I know it's not my business but I suggest you keep Potter away from girls." Sirius said shaking his head laughing going back to Peter at the other end of the table.

Remus turned shocked to the door hoping James came out saying he changed his mind.

* * *

When James spotted Corinne crying by the lake he still didn't know what to do. "Be her friend" he thought remembering Remus's suggestion. He walked behind her hoping to scare her. "That's not right!" he said shaking his head. He let go of his idea and decided just to go see what her problem was. 

"Hey!" James said awkwardly when he got to her.

She stopped crying and looked at him. Her eyes were red and her hair was all over her face. James smiled and gently pushed it out of her face. Well, not so gently because he accidentally hit her nose.

"Sorry!" he apologized.

She laughed a little already familiar with his clumsiness. "It's ok!" she said.

James grinned a little "So why are you crying?" he asked.

She sighed "Here! Read this!" she said giving him a letter.

"Dear Corinne,

I'm sure you read by now in the newspaper about the attack. What you don't know is that a while after it happened, we received a dark letter with that horrible dark sign on it. It came from one of the Dark Lord's followers. He or she said that our family is targeted and that we have to choose between joining him or die. You know how against evil I am so I refused him. Don't worry; I've already spoken to a Ministry official so we'll be relocated somewhere safe. I don't want to pressure you but I'd like you to think about leaving Hogwarts and come live with me. I sent a letter to your father and he says it's a good idea. Please think about it and give me your answer. I love you sweetie! Mom."

James looked up to her. She was washing her face with the water from the lake.

He tried to think of something a friend would say. "You shouldn't use lake water. Somebody could have done something in it."

Maybe he should think more about what he says before he says it…

"Corinne," he quickly said "I'm really sorry!"

She shrugged "It's not your fault!"

"What are you going to do?" he asked her.

She looked at him for a minute trying to decide "I don't know! I guess I'm going to stay!"

"Yes!" he said happy.

She raised an eyebrow "Why are you so happy?"

"Well, because you get to finish school! That's the most important thing!" he lied.

She couldn't help but giggle "And because you're such a good friend and care for me right?" she asked winking at him.

He blushed a bit "What are friends for eh?"

* * *

Remus was going crazy searching for James. He went all over the castle but still couldn't find him. 

"Where could he be?" he asked frustrated to nobody in particular.

"Who?" A person behind him asked.

Remus turned around and saw Evans. He remembered the kiss on the cheek she gave him on the train ride. He didn't like her but her presence always unnerved him.

"Lily." He greeted.

"Remus." She responded "Who are you searching for?"

"Oh! I'm looking for James."

"Why?"

Remus answered with the first thing that came to his mind "Because I lost him."

"You lost him?" She asked incredulous.

"He went after this girl but I think he'll do something stupid." he said.

Lily thought for a moment "The blonde one?"

"Yes, how do you know?"

"I saw him at breakfast running after her. She seemed upset." She said worried.

"Never mind that now! Do you know where he is?" He asked.

"Did you check outside?"

Remus smacked his head "I knew it!" He screamed then took off.

"Wait! Can I come?" She asked.

Remus stopped and looked at her "You mean with me?"

Lily stared at Remus "Well, yes! Can I?" She pleaded.

Remus shrugged "Sure. I guess you could come along." He said shrugging again.

"Good! Let's go!" She hurried him off.

Remus looked like he just awakened and ran off to find James.

* * *

James stared at the beautiful lake. It felt so peaceful, so quiet something that will be rare in the future with the new Dark Lord coming. He looked to his right and saw Corinne lying down on the grass. It took him a while to calm her down but he did it. Now more than ever he felt nervous around her. Her father told her she's going to die in three years now this happens? He felt so sorry for her. Sorry and attracted too. 

"James?" She called.

"Yeah?" He responded.

"Aren't you cold?"

He smiled. He offered to take off his robe so she could have something to lie on the cold ground. Sure he was freezing but it was worth it.

"Nah! I have thick skin!" He said.

"As thick as a feather!" He thought. All his willpower was going into not shaking.

"So what are you going to do when you grow up?" She asked

"Honestly I didn't think about it yet. I just want to live to get there you know?"

So it had been to perfect to be true…

As on queue, her eyes began to water and tears came down on her face.

"I'll never have a future!" She cried.

"Sure you will!" He said encouragingly "You will have a wonderful life with a husband and three kids. You won't die!"

Strangely, she began to cry more when James said that.

Luckily, Remus and Lily found that time to come rescue him.

"It's alright! It's alright!" Lily said going to calm down Corinne, which left Remus and James to talk in private.

"James what did you do?" Remus questioned.

"Nothing I swear! We were just talking and I mentioned death and she began to cry!" James replied running his hand through his hair "I just don't know how to talk to them!"

"James it's ok. You just have a lot of bad luck. Sorry mate!"

James sighed and looked again at Corinne and Lily "Why did you bring Evans?" He asked.

It was Remus's turn to run his hands through his hair "Um…she didn't give me much of a choice!"

James seemed to understand and smiled "Yeah…that's Lily!"

They both grinned at each other in a mischievous way.

"Now that everything is fine," James said checking on the girls who were hugging "let's go to the castle. I heard that third year, Mundungus I think, brought a big spider in his dorm. Want to check it out?"

"Yeah, maybe we could threaten him with telling the professors and get him to walk in his underwear in the common room or something." Remus proposed.

James liked the idea and laughed. Then after saying goodbye to the girls they headed back into the castle.

At the entrance Remus remembered something "Why was she crying in the first place?"

James's expression saddened "Her mother got a letter from that Dark Lord. Her family is targeted." He said not noticing Remus pale "I'm really sorry for her. Just imagine getting a letter that said how much more you're going to live! Her mother wants her to quit school and come live with her but Corinne wants to stay. I feel so sorry for her. If only there was something I could do but I can't! Not yet!"

"Yeah." Remus replied quiet. "What did the letter look like?"

"I think it was a black letter with the skull sign on it. Why do you ask?" James interested.

Remus shrugged "No reason." He said putting his hands in his pockets. In the right pocket he felt it. The dark letter lay there unopened.


	7. A betrayal

_Hy again! I finished another chapter! And on my birthday! That's…so sad. This chapter is much darker then the rest but I had to do it that way because it starts a chain for the other chapters. You'll see! Anyway review please. Make my birthday special:D Oh and if you're wondering, Lily is strange because she's based on a real person I know. The girls I know are that way so for the girl readers: please don't be offended by the female characters!_

_

* * *

_

**Chapter seven: A betrayal **

"So when are you coming back?" James asked Remus one day of November during Potions. He had just found out from Remus that his mother had a severe cancer attack and that she needs him urgently.

"In a week or so, won't be long!"

"But Remus…this is the third time you'll be gone! It's like…you stay three weeks in school and one week out of school. This isn't right!"

Remus studied James for a moment "Jealous?" he asked.

James thought for a moment "Well…yes and no! I can't stand another week with Black and Evans!"

"I thought you and Evans were best friends!" Remus said sarcastically.

"Oh the hell with her! My patience is running low. Yeah…she has been supportive of me and helped me a lot but if I even suggest something that connects with something she doesn't like her face turns red and starts to scream at me!" James said exasperated.

Someone gasped behind them and James turned around to see Lily looking at him. With tears coming down her eyes she turned around and left the classroom.

"Everyone please focus on the potion please!" Slughorn said from the front of the class trying to interrupt the whispering and speculation of Lily's newest displeasure.

"Boy I'll sure have a heavy week!" James said while wondering whether he should bang his head against his desk or not.

"She'll get over it! You and she have been friends for over two months now!"

James glared at Remus "Don't remind me!" he said finally deciding and smacking his head on the desk.

Remus sniggered "Well, if Evans will ignore you and Black gives you a hard time, you know what to do!"

James quickly looked up to Remus "You don't mean…"

Remus nodded grinning "That's right!"

James turned pale and in a matter of seconds turned bright red "But I can't!" he whined.

"Come on James! You have to try! You can't avoid her forever!"

James shrugged "You just watch me!"

"It's been a month! You can do it!" Remus encouraged.

James thought for a moment "Ok!"

Remus looked surprised "Really?"

"NO!"

"Think of the Halloween party! Maybe she saw you and decided that you're not such a bad guy!"

"Yeah Remus! I'm sure watching Snape dancing around the great hall with his pants burning got her attention!"

They had to stop talking because Slughorn decided that there was too much noise and started going to random students to see their potions.

"Sirius m'boy! A perfect potion! A perfect dark purple shade! I'm not surprised! Guess who wins twenty points for their house!"

The Hufflepuffs, who the Gryffindor's shared potion class with, shot dirty looks at Sirius hopefully to intimidate him.

Meanwhile Slughorn continued to look at potions. When he got to James's white potion he looked at him with pity.

"James, I'm sorry to say you do not posses the gift. So far all your potions have turned out to be complete disasters! I fear you won't get to be my successor after all."

James raised an eyebrow as if trying to say "are you kidding me?" but decided to say something else "I'm sorry too professor but it's been hard for me!" James said in an innocent tone.

Slughorn's expression saddened "I know it's rough on you! So little and yet such a burden hangs on you… ok I'm going to let it go once more!"

Then he turned to Remus and saw his potion a light purple color. Still being upset he didn't gather the words to reprimand him and just nodded before going back to his desk.

"You have to tell me how you do it!" Remus said talking to James.

James looked at the sky and sighed "It's a gift!" he said in a suffering voice.

Remus laughed at turned to his potion. There was a long pause before Remus tried again "So when are you going to talk to her?"

That sentence made James jump in surprise from the sudden change of subject. That caused his freshly cut bubotuber roots to fall in the potion. The conclusion was a brand of red fireworks coming out of the cauldron and flying everywhere in sight.

"Duck!" Slughorn yelled and all students hid under their desks.

"Are you trying to kill me?" James whispered to Remus from under his desk.

"No I'm trying to knock some sense into you! You making the entire classroom blow up WASN'T PART OF MY PLAN!" clearly Remus's patience was running low and James saw this.

"If it's that important to you I'll go talk to her later. I guess it couldn't hurt!"

"You see what's above? I'm sure it will hurt! But you have to try anyway!"

"Thanks for the support!" James mumbled trying to look up and see what was going on but he was greeted by a fast coming firework. Succeeding to duck, the firework flew past him and hit a stack of books from Evans's desk.

"This so isn't Evans's perfect day!" he said to no one in particular.

* * *

After three hours of hard work fixing what was left after the potions incident, James looked up and smiled at the sky, or rather what he saw through the window. 

"James, I see you finished rearranging the ingredients. I'm sorry to do this to you in your condition." Slughorn said sympathetically.

"It's not your fault professor!" James said.

"If there was any way I could help you. I shouldn't have put this on you. It wasn't even your fault!"

"It's alright sir! I managed to skip defense against the dark arts without getting detention."

Slughorn laughed "Ah James, I know what you mean! When I was your age…"

"Professor, I would like to get back to my classes now!" James quickly interrupted.

"Sure, sure, knowledge gives the life a meaning you know?" Slughorn said proudly then he reached in his pocket and subtracted a parchment that he gave to James "Here, this is an invitation to my party I'm giving in my office. Your friend Black is also coming. See you tonight?"

"I hope so sir!" James said putting the parchment in the pocket of his robes. He liked the idea of seeing it burn in the Gryffindor common room.

* * *

"…AND YOUR FATHER AND I ARE VERY DISSAPOINTED IN YOU!" the voice said before the letter erupted into flames. 

The Gryffindors, as well as the other houses, were having lunch after three classes. All of them were tired and didn't have any energy to listen again to Mrs. Black's yelling. After two months they became used to her swears and screams, hence, almost everybody scowled when the now famous black owl came in to deliver a red letter.

"Can't Dumbledore put a silencing charm on it? He could, couldn't he? I can hardly hear what I'm saying now." Remus said annoyed.

"I think he could but he likes it to much. Besides I saw he got a new pair of earmuffs. What more can somebody ask for?" James replied sorrow as well.

Both of them had their reasons, James for having to clean AND put up with Slughorn and Remus for another round of arguing with Dolohov, the defense professor. Dolohov wanted to tell the class about the way to hunt down dangerous creatures and picked for no reason at all to mention werewolves and chose Remus to answer a few questions.

While James pitied himself he saw something interesting at the Ravenclaw table. Lily and Corinne were having a very close discussion at the end of which hugged and Lily departed to the exit. Not waiting any longer, James shoved Remus as hard as he could, scaring him out of his misery.

"Remus please I beg you go talk to Evans!" James pleaded.

"No James that's your job. Stop using me as a tool!" Remus said resentful causing James to look strangely at him.

"Sorry…dear…but I got to know what they were talking about. Maybe it's a way to get them to talk to me again."

"James you know you can always talk to them anytime you want to!" but after thinking about it added "You're right! I'll get moving!" he said getting up the chair and going after Lily.

Sirius saw that Remus had gone and thought it was his time to get to talk to James. Approaching him quietly from behind, he sat down in the empty seat.

"Potter we have to talk!" he said.

"Hello to you too!" James commented.

"It's getting too strange and I want to find out what's happening." Sirius said ignoring James. "Will you help me or not?"

"Well, I'm glad you decided not be unclear about it."

"It's about Lupin!" Sirius said running out of patience.

"What about him?" James asked.

"This is crazy! He leaves school about once a month to be with his family and I talked to Dorcas Meadows, you know that really hot roommate of Evans's, and her grandfather died a week ago and the school council only gave her a weekend so she could be at his funeral. So weather Lupin's mom has cancer or not, he's still hiding something from us!" Sirius said triumphantly.

Though Sirius's speech convinced James that Remus was hiding something from him it didn't convince him to go spying with Black of all people. He solemnly shook his head "Sorry Black but I'm not a back-stabber!"

"That's not a problem, I'm one!" he said calmly taking a sip from a cup of pumpkin juice "I just need you to help me once or twice in my research." Then when he saw James still wouldn't cooperate with him added "Or I could still keep searching for dirty stuff about you!"

This had an immediate reaction on James who turned from annoyed to frightened. "What about me?" he asked.

Sirius was still behaving casually like this was the simplest conversation he had ever had "My parents work in the ministry. They asked around trying to find out your parents job. Though everybody knows them, nobody knew what they did. An Auror thought they worked as Obliviators and an Obliviator thought they worked as Aurors. I think you understand what I'm saying!" Sirius deduced from James's pale face.

"You're mad! How could they not know? They're so stupid they don't know how to search. They're in the archives. Did they look there?" James asked.

Sirius looked smugly at James "Yeah they did. Know what they found? In the right part of your parents' names a fire incident occurred and nobody could read about what their job was."

Seeing that James wouldn't give in that easily, Sirius continued "So what I'm guessing now is that they had a super secret job that apparently the Hogwarts staff knows about, probably something that helped Dumbledore's little army in the Grindelwald war. So in respect to your parents they are giving you special treatment. Well, that's what I thought 'till today in potions when the Slug showed sympathy for your condition, so whatever it is you're hiding still has an effect on people!"

James looked at Sirius for a moment "You finished?" he asked

Sirius nodded.

"Good 'cause I'm finished eating and I want to get to my dorm and finish my Charms homework. Though I don't know what more I can say about swishing and flicking. Anyway, thanks for the story, I enjoyed it! Same time tomorrow huh? Sirius…" James said addressing him by his first name "don't get yourself in things you'll regret later, 'cause trust me, you will!"

Then James got up and walked past Sirius without saying goodbye and left the room. All the way to the common room he thought about that discussion. How Sirius got so far in two months. If he didn't do something his secret would be discovered and he would have to leave Hogwarts for safety measures. But he couldn't betray Remus like that so easily. If it was the other way around James wouldn't have liked it if Remus betrayed his trust. But was Remus worth it? Maybe it was a silly thing and everyone was over appreciating it. Maybe Remus wouldn't mind!

No! He couldn't ask Remus that. Firstly because it was clear that it was huge since all staff was in on it and protecting him. Secondly, if he told Remus that, all his chances to get Black off his back would be nullified, or even in the negative since Remus would be more cautious. But did he want to think about ratting him out?

He finally got to the Fat Lady's portrait. After saying the password ("Newt Scamander") he went in and saw Remus having a conversation with Lily by the fireplace. Seeing James walk in, Lily said something to Remus and went upstairs to her dorm. James went to Remus to see what that was about.

"I talked to her and asked her how she's best buddies with Corinne like you asked me to!" Remus said "They arranged to go to this club Slughorn made in his office. Only VIP's can enter and exceptionally good potion makers. There are going to be a lot of other girls there too."

"Yeah, Black is also going to be there, no wonder he's going!" James said still partially thinking about the earlier conversation "If Corinne and Lily are going to be there I should be too. I think. Then they'll know I'm a sophisticated boy and start to forgive me."

"That or you failed to finish Slughorn's paper and you need to woo him to not give you a bad mark." Remus retorted.

James sighed "Well, I DO have a late assignment I need to give him. S'pose I'll do both!" he said taking a seat on the couch.

Remus stared at James torn between asking "what the hell are you going to do?" and "how can I help you?"

James got up and went to the stairs

"Where are you going?" Remus asked

"To the dorm. I have to get dressed if I'm going." James replied. In truth, he needed time to think.

* * *

At nine o clock, James was standing in front of Slughorn's office. He loosened his shirt a little, knowing what would come. After staring at the ceiling for an hour, James decided that everybody would know sooner or later and that Remus's trust was more important. Nodding to himself, he knocked on the door. It opened automatically (James had a feeling Slughorn charmed it to open only to the guests with invitations) and James went in and looked around. 

The room was probably enlarged because it was the same size of the Great Hall. Four large tables were put near the walls filled with food of every kind. There was even a plate with chocolate frogs. James heard about them from an uncle that worked at a candy store in Diagon Alley. They were chocolate in the shape of frogs charmed to hop around. You had to eat them before they got away. On the side of the Frog was usually a collectable card.

"Hello James! Glad you could make it!" Slughorn said cheery coming towards James. Following his gaze he saw the batch of chocolate frogs "Ah, I see your eyes have taste. These are still rare. I had to pull a few strings to get them here. The ministry is still working on the cards but they let me take the chocolate. Have a go!" Slughorn pushed James to the table and took himself one making a delighted sound when he ate it "Mmmm! I tell you James, these are the future. James take a bite!"

James looked again the brown frogs. Normally he wouldn't eat them but he had to get away from Slughorn. He grabbed one and took a bite of it. The sensation was definitely good. Nothing James tasted had been this good. After he finished it, James took another and another. Slughorn laughed and patted James on the shoulder "Not to much! You don't want to see Madame Pomfrey tonight, especially with the surprises I have prepared for." He said taking a crystal pineapple then going to the door where another guest had arrived.

It was James's queue to look for the girls. He spotted them talking with a second year girl from Gryffindor Marlene McKinnon. Her entire family worked as Aurors. He met her two years ago at a New Year's Eve party before she went to Hogwarts. Taking another bite from a chocolate frog, he strolled casually to them though he didn't look down and he tripped. Corinne and Marlene laughed while Lily seemed annoyed with the new company.

"Potter I didn't know you were invited! I guess your family is too famous so you had to come!" she said icily suggesting to James's potion making skills (or lack of).

James got up from the floor and made a bow to the girls ignoring Lily. "Girls, I'm honored to see you here!" he said

Lily looked more peeved than ever. "Well Potter, some of us got here for our potion skills." She said.

Corinne and Marlene looked at each other and understood that both of them got here because of their family, though they didn't say that to Lily.

Lily was fuming "Potter, I prefer if you go to your boys and play and leave us alone!" she said.

Corinne interrupted in time to stop James's incoming comment "Actually Lily," she said "I'd like to talk to James for a while. I haven't spoken to him for a long time" she went past a shocked Lily and took James's shaking hand. Then she led him to a corner where she looked at him for a while.

James's heart rate tripled and he felt heat in the room he never knew existed "Looking good!" he managed to muttered.

Corinne giggled at the weird comment "Thank you!" she said smiling, James felt his feet melt and Corinne was still holding his hand "I haven't talked to you in a long time. I hope you're not scared of me because I cried at the lake!"

James furiously shook his head "No! No, no, no!" he kept on saying "No! No! I just thought you hated me for saying that stupid thing and I kept your wish not to see me."

Corinne laughed and leaned towards James "You're my friend and I know you can be an idiot sometimes but that's ok!" she said hugging James tightly for the first time. The sick part of James's mind acknowledged that parts of her body began to grow and touching that part made James wish more than ever to be with her. However she finished the hug smiling at him not knowing what was going on in his head.

James had to retain himself from drooling and swallowing his spit, grinned at her. "That was disgusting!" James thought.

Noticing the silence that was between them and also realizing (with horror) that they were still holding hands, he rudely almost shoved her to the chocolate frogs and took one with his free hand inviting her also to take one. Sighing, Corinne broke the hand-holding and nibbled from one.

They stayed there for half an hour eating but not talking and then Slughorn came announcing that he wanted to talk.

"Everyone, attention please! Some of you complained that my parties are boring and that we need music. Well, everyone, with the acceptance of Dumbledore I managed to get WWN!" he cheered and music filled the room.

James watched dismayed as couples began forming and stepping in the middle of the room to dance. James looked at Corinne to see her outstretched arm.

"Shall we?" she invited.

He looked at her in confusion as to why she was doing this. He was a horrible dancer "I…I…" he began.

"I'll dance with you!" a voice said behind him. James turned to see Sirius smirking at them and giving his arm to Corinne. "What a nice smell you have!" he complemented her then turned to James "I'll see you around! Don't exaggerate with the frogs mate" he pointed to the chocolate frogs then took Corinne to the very middle and danced very closely to her, too closely for James's liking.

James sat down, being probably the only one who wasn't dancing. Or so he thought until he saw Evans coming to him.

"Potter stop drooling over her. If you can't be a man deal with it!" Lily said icily.

James sighed "Alright Evans you win! I'm sorry for insulting you!" he apologized "I really am! I shouldn't have said anything about you. You trusted me enough to be your friend and I betrayed that. Please forgive me!"

Lily shook her head "No Potter this isn't about you anymore. I really mean it! Stop going after her if you're not sure you want to go all the way through. She's a good friend but she's vulnerable so if you don't give her what she wants then stay away. As for your pathetic apology I won't accept it. Not now anyway. You don't know how much it hurt to hear you say that. Everybody is criticizing me and I trusted you enough to believe you wouldn't do the same. But I was wrong! So Potter, don't expect me to be friends with you for a while! Right now I want to punch your face so bad it hurts me to not." She said going to a blonde guy whispering something into his ear to which he nodded and then they started dancing.

"Bloody hell!" James muttered sitting there in his chair watching the other ones dancing and having a good time. Worst thing was that he had to refuse several invitations to dance, even one from a seventh year Ravenclaw who seemed angry that a first year refused her.

James stood for a full hour and a half before the music started to stop. The couples were splitting and going to their common rooms greeted by Slughorn at the exit. James rose from his chair thanking every star he knew for making it through the night alive. Corinne also split with Sirius ("how long have they been dancing?" James thought) and went to say good bye to James.

James looked pale from watching her getting so close to Sirius. He felt that if he got a moment alone with him, he wouldn't take it and kill him. Corinne looked concerned at him.

"James are you ok? You look pale!" she said.

James's expressionless face turned to her "I'm alright! Are…are you?" he asked

She nodded "Yeah! I really wished you were there! To bad you didn't want to dance!"

James felt his inside explode. He wanted to tell her how much he wanted to be there, to be the one who held her in his arms, to dance with her all night long "Yeah!" he finally said.

She looked at him concerned "Well, I have to go before curfew comes and a prefect catches me. Oh and say hello to your parents. Sirius said they were sick or something. Get well!" she greeted and left the room.

So that was it! Sirius did all that so he would convince James to spy on Remus. He hold her, he danced with her, only to spite him! How dare he?

James was seeing red in his eyes by the time he got in the Common Room. He ran up the stairs and saw Remus with his bags looking at something black. What it was he didn't see because Remus quickly hid it when he came.

"You had fun?" Remus asked.

"A blast!" James replied.

Remus took it as a sign that James didn't want to talk about it. He shrugged and left the room "See you in a week!" he said leaving James alone.

Five minutes later Sirius came in dancing with an imaginary girl. James became more furious and jumped at Sirius pinning him to the floor and started punching him in the stomach.

"You" he said punching him "bastard!" another punch "How… dare… you… do… this… for… your… stupid… ego!"

Peter came running in and took James off Sirius who was bleeding already. He had to not let him go which was hard for Peter's body.

Sirius got off the floor wiping some blood off his lip. He looked furiously at James who was red in the face "What's wrong with you Potter?" he spat punching James in the stomach.

"You! You know I like her. You did all that just to get me to betray Remus. You're a bastard!" James screamed.

"Likewise Potter! It's so simple. You get me what I want and I help you get what you want! Otherwise when I finally figure out your secret, your blonde chick and everyone else in the school will find out. And from your face I understand expelling is also an issue."

* * *

Remus was sitting in his tiny room Dumbledore managed to make for him. He had a window from where he saw the full moon. It had an unusual red color that night. Remus wasn't an expert in divination but he knew something had to be wrong. He didn't have time to think about it however, because the moon already started to have an effect on Remus. 

"It's starting!" he said.

* * *

James looked ready to kill Sirius. He never hated anyone so much in his life, except for one person who he will never forgive for ruining his life. He stared at Sirius with anger and hate. He finally managed to mumble something. 

"What was that?" Sirius asked.

"Alright! I'll do it!" James yelled.

Sirius smirked at the person held captive in Peter's hands "You and I will make a great team Potter!"

**AN: I hope you liked it. Please leave your thoughts and review for me please:)**


	8. Midnight walks

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter and I'm not a successful woman from Edinburgh that gave birth to…what was it? 3 children? Neither will I ever be unless somehow mother nature lost her mind. **

**Chapter eight: Midnight walks **

_"Don't let him go!" A voice shouted _

_James was running as much as he could. Hundreds of masked men were after him shooting curses and jinxes. James could duck many of them but many cutting curses still hit him. Fortunately he avoided the stunning spells. _

_"Get him!" a rasp voice boomed from all around the forest. This made James stumble and trip on a twig. He fell with his face on the ground, his hand under his chest. As he tried to rise he discovered he had dislocated his hand. Swearing he tried to stand up and discovered he was already surrounded. Sirius Black, the Dark Lord's right hand man, pointed his wand at him. _

_"I've been waiting for this for a long time Potter!" Sirius spat. _

_James looked his enemy in the eye. He wasn't going to be cowering in front of him, in front of death. He wanted to die like a hero and set an example for his son. _

_"Avada Kedavra!" Sirius screamed. His voice was full with hatred and his face only confirmed it. A green light shot out of his wand and hit a stunned James full in the chest. Even if he wanted to scream he couldn't. Time stopped for him as he slowly fell down in the ground. _

James woke up from his nightmare sweating. He shook his head and tried to forget the images. Thinking that his future killer was currently sharing a room with him didn't help.

James sighed. Since the stupid day when he agreed to help Black find Remus's secret he decided that Black was a lost cause regardless of the hat's words.

He got up off of the bed looking around the room. He saw books and parchments thrown carelessly on the floor. Robes and sweaters were hanging by the bed. There was even some kind of mixture of a potion spilled on the floor by Pettigrew's bed.

All the occupants, which meant two since Remus had to pay another visit to his mother suffering deeply from her illness, were deep asleep. James walked to the bathroom avoiding Sirius's bed half from trying to avoid him jumping unexpected on his back, half from trying to avoid killing him himself to avoid future complications.

Washing his face didn't help. When James returned to the room he was still a little jumpy. He looked out the window. The sun was far from rising and the moon was still shining on the sky. James smiled as he observed it was a full moon that night. Deciding that he wouldn't get to sleep again that night, he changed his clothes silently and opened the door and closed it behind him.

The common room was partly empty. There were a few third year students sleeping on the couches and unfinished parchments gave James the idea that they were busy trying to do their homework. From the sleeping boys James saw Mundungus Fletcher, a sneaky boy his parents introduced him in last year's Christmas party. After a few hours of hanging with that boy James noticed his watch was gone. James chuckled as he saw his gold watch on that boy's hand.

He walked to the fat lady's portrait and said the password to open it. Ignoring her disapproval mutterings, he went passed it and turned to the stairs.

His mind was already on other subjects than that dream. Last week McGonagall asked him to stay after class. As the class finished, he waved at Remus and told him he would see him later. McGonagall's lips were pursed which usually meant bad news.

"Take a seat Mr. Potter!" she said.

James took a seat in the nearest desk and waited for her to say what she had to say.

"Mr. Potter," she began "do you remember our conversation at the start of the year?"

Slowly James nodded not sure where she was heading.

"Then you must remember a term I told you about in order to start your classes at Hogwarts!"

James thought back to the discussion. She said she wouldn't treat him differently. 'Oh no!' James thought 'I forgot to do some essay!'

"Dumbledore is ready to see you!" she finished.

James's mouth opened in shock. He expected a detention but Dumbledore?

"Professor," James said alarmed "why does Dumbledore want to see me?"

McGonagall pursed her lips even further in annoyance "You said you remember our conversation! I told you Dumbledore will want to see you to discuss your…problems. He wants to see you over the winter holiday so no suspicions can be raised. That means you will have to stay at Hogwarts over Christmas."

James grinned. So the old hag didn't have any complaints to him. That was good. However he still worried why Dumbledore wanted to see him. Surely he understood better than him the situation he was in. No matter the cost his secret remained a secret.

He rose up and left the classroom after bidding a 'good day' to McGonagall. It didn't bother him to stay at Hogwarts. He would have to whole room to himself. Or at least he thought he would. He didn't know what Remus's plans were, neither Black's nor Pettigrew's.

As James descended the stairs he thought about possible motives. None came to his mind. However he was happy because tomorrow, the first day of winter break and the first of Dumbledore's talk was the same day as Slughorn's next party. He avoided going to the last one, the one after the "incident" by pretending he was sick. He knew Corinne would be dancing with another bloke but as long as he wasn't standing in the side forced to watch all was good.

Thought that didn't mean that would last forever. After Sirius made James swear to help him with Remus, he took him to a deserted corridor on third floor the next day and tried to teach James how to dance. Even if Sirius and Peter were howling with laughter by the end of the hour the intention was good. James felt himself that he was improving. He rarely stepped on the armor suit's toes anymore (Sirius and Peter strongly refused to be James's partner)

The problem with Corinne was different however. After the Slug party, he rarely talked to her ever if he promised that they would be friends again. The image of her with Sirius was too painful for him even if he only knew her for a few months. He had hidden from Remus his fears since Remus didn't have to know why he was afraid. He said that he was no longer interested in her and that he couldn't stand to be near her. Remus shrugged and told him that he was still young though he kept an eye on James from then on.

So ignoring her worried look whenever they looked in the eye, he made a goal to himself to be the most charming guy ever and then he could continue his pursue on her. He sped things up when he saw her one day talking intense with Sturgis Podmore from third year. Sirius saw James staring at them and laughed at him which earned himself a punch in the stomach.

Over time James forgave himself about Remus. He convinced himself that Remus was too careful to let the secret slip. Though James often thought about what the secret might be, if he found out he would have to tell Black. Since he was little, his parents taught him to be sincere and noble. If he swore to Black to tell him what he found out he would keep his promise. From time to time he would make excuses to him for not finding anything out. Last time it was too late to track Remus and this time he faked sleeping when Remus left. Sirius let it go this time but threatened that the next time he would send a letter to his parents telling them to keep searching. James laughed at the idea afterwards knowing that his parents would just send him another howler telling him that they were not his slaves.

James was at the fifth floor when he heard someone coming. Startled, he quickly hid behind a nearby statue watching Head boy, Lucius Malfoy, coming towards him in a hurry. For a moment he feared that the blonde boy saw him and was coming to get him but he passed James without even glancing his way.

James breathed in relief and risked approaching him more. At first he heard a voice and feared that Malfoy was talking to somebody but hearing him he convinced him that Malfoy was talking by himself.

"I can't believe I'm late because of a couple of mudbloods snogging. If they ever have an offspring I'll personally kill him!" Lucius grumbled.

This caught James's attention. Malfoy was late? Late for what? James tried to follow Lucius but he went down the stairs. Cursing, James turned back to the corridor and ran to a secret stairway he found as a kid when he went here. The stairway being dark, it caused less danger to being exposed.

As James descended he started to hear voices coming from the fourth floor door. James opted to listen from there since opening it would likely bring trouble.

"There you are Lucius! Why are you late?" a voice asked.

"I caught some mudbloods in the Astronomy tower having…fun." came Lucius's reply.

"THAT'S IT!" shouted another voice "WE HAD ENOUGH OF MUDBLOODS! WE HAVE TO MAKE A STAND!"

"Rabastan, if you please shout again, I'm sure some Ravenclaws who didn't hear you yet will have the pleasure to recognize your voice." Lucius replied.

"He's right though!" a fourth voice said "When will the Dark Lord take us?"

"Patience! The Dark Lord has his motives. First you have to prove yourself." a familiar voice said. James tried to remember whose was it but couldn't figure it out. From the sound of the voice it seemed to be of an older man.

The silence that followed proved to James that the man was one of the Dark Lord's followers. He heard some tones of disappointment coming from the students.

"But how do we know if Voldemort isn't some buffoon getting caught by the first Auror?" asked a bold voice.

James's eyes widened at the revelation. So the Dark Lord's name was Voldemort? He wondered if that was his real name or just a title he gave himself. It still was precious information and James would tell Dumbledore the next day at the meeting.

"_Silencio_!" the dark wizard yelled then continued "How dare you speak the Dark Lord's name in front of me? How dare you question him?" the voice was getting angrier by the second "You have disappointed me Mulciber! _Crucio_!"

James swallowed air as he heard Mulciber's screams of agony. The boy begged for mercy many times before his screams stopped. A thud was heard informing James that Mulciber passed out from the pain.

"Get him up!" the voice ordered. "And tell him that the Dark Lord won't have patience for him. He might as well die!"

"We're sorry for him." Lucius said courteously "We promise it won't happen again!"

Then the voice laughed sending chills through James's back. Then sound of something being opened and closed was heard.

"Good thing he left!" Lucius spat "We'll see who the Dark Lord will favor. You! Drag him to his common room and leave him there. I'll go through the mirror. It might be an important passageway from Hogwarts.

James exhaled loudly when he heard footsteps. For a moment he thought they would catch him. He ran back to his common room luckily not bumping into anyone though he was almost spotted by Peeves, the poltergeist. He sat on the empty couch beside Mundungus and thought. The Dark Lord was already getting students from Hogwarts into his crowd. From what James heard he already had the Knights of Walpurgis and local newspapers told of a rumor that he already started to approach giants. James sat there horrified looking at the entrance from the fat lady's portrait expecting Voldemort to come and kill him.

He sat there all night. Finally James felt a hand on his shoulder and turned around pulling his wand horrified. Sirius was looking at him grinning and Peter was beside him.

"What do you want?" James snapped.

Sirius backed up a step "Easy there Potter. We just wanted to ask if you would like to join us at breakfast today since Lupin isn't around."

James sighed and put his wand back. "Sorry!" he apologized.

xxxxxxxxxx

By the time he got there, James wondered why the hell he went to breakfast. He didn't have much of an appetite and seeing Slytherins didn't help at all.

He sat in front of Sirius and Peter which meant his back was turned to the Slytherin table. After five minutes he was still picking his food trying to forget last night but he couldn't. Suddenly he felt someone patting him on the shoulder. He turned around to see Roberta Florence, a sexy Ravenclaw girl from third year smiling at him. She had long brown hair and magnificent blue eyes twinkling of happiness and unlike most third years, her face was boil-free.

"Here!" she said handing him a piece of parchment "McGonagall asked me to give this to you." she said gracefully tossing some of her hair over her shoulder.

James heard someone choke behind him and a snigger following that.

"Er…thanks!" James said awkwardly. It still was a mystery why McGonagall didn't come to him herself.

Florence nodded smiling and looked past him "Are you alright?" she asked confused.

James turned his head and tried to hold back his laughter. Pettigrew was gaping at Florence and tons of water was coming out of his mouth. Peter didn't seem to notice since he was too awed by the girl's looks. Next to him Sirius was trying hard to stifle the laughter threatening to escape his lips.

Rolling his eyes he turned and reassured the girl that Peter will be ok. After she left he looked at Sirius "Honestly!" and he took out his wand and stopped the water from running "Where'd you learn this spell anyway?" he asked Sirius while Peter was looking left and right trying to figure out what had happened.

Sirius shrugged "It wasn't real water! It didn't reach the floor or anything! Just a hologram spell I learn while I was at my dear home!" he said stressing the word 'dear'. "Speaking of which, news has come!" he said pointing at the owls that had just arrived. James looked up and clearly saw the black Black family owl with a red envelope tied to his legs.

As the owl landed at the table in front of Sirius, most of Gryffindor table groaned and took a distance from Sirius.

The letter didn't wait for Sirius to open it this time and instantaneously grew a mouth and began shouting in the Great Hall "SIRIUS ORION BLACK HOW DARE YOU BRING SUCH SHAME INTO OUR FAMILY?"

"Why are you so grumpy anyway?" Sirius asked trying to keep his voice over the letter.

"None of your business!" James yelled trying to get heard.

"I'VE NEVER BEEN SO ASHAMED IN MY LIFE!" the howler continued

"I think it is my business!" Sirius yelled clearly referring to Remus's secret.

James shook his head "No! It's about…personal issues!"

"Potter don't be an ass and just tell us!"

"YOUR FATHER IS VERY UPSET WITH YOU!"

"Yeah, him and me both!" James muttered.

"What?" Sirius asked.

"Bugger off!" James retorted.

"YEARS AND YEARS OF TRADITION…"

"Why do you keep hiding Potter?"

"You know Black there is more to life than just your curiosity!"

"Yeah! Quidditch!" Sirius stupidly replied.

"Forget it!" James snapped rising from the table storming off.

"…AND DON'T YOU DARE SHOW YOUR FACE IN THIS HOUSE AGAIN!" the letter finished.

"You know Peter, something tells me I won't be coming home for Christmas!" Sirius growled.

"Bloody Sirius Black!" James was marching in the first floor corridor not knowing where to go next. It occurred to him that that was the first day of winter holidays and that he had no classes to go to. Thinking it was a good way to catch on his sleep he lost, he jogged to the Gryffindor common room.

By the time he was on the fourth floor, his heart started beating faster. 'This was where they were last night!' James realized. He looked around insecure to check if any Slytherins were there. We walked to the closed door at the other end of which he listened to the conversation last night. He looked at the floor desperate to find any traces of blood to prove that he didn't dream it last night, but whoever they were they cleaned the place and left it spotless. Sighing James leaned on a mirror trying to figure what to do next. Was it wise to tell Dumbledore what he saw? What if they found out he was the one to tell him? James frowned, coming to the conclusion that he was loosing time.

Entering the common room he saw Sirius and Peter sitting comfortably on the couches. When he exited the Great Hall he heard – though it was pretty impossible not to hear – the letter telling Sirius that he wasn't welcomed for the holiday. There were also a couple of older students who were staying at Hogwarts. The train left right after breakfast.

He climbed on his bed and rested. He decided that he would tell Dumbledore. His life was nothing compared to the ones he would save.

xxxxxxxxxxxx

James ran hysterically to the second floor. He was late by fifteen minutes to his meeting with Dumbledore. After he fell asleep Black thought it was a good idea to stun and leave him there. Thankfully the curse wore off after an hour.

He looked at the parchment McGonagall gave him. It said to go too the gargoyle statue and say the password ("chocolate frogs"). Sure enough, a huge stone gargoyle was in front of him waiting for James to give the password. After he did, the gargoyle leaped aside and revealed a spiral stone staircase.

As James stepped a foot in it, it began to move upwards. From behind James heard a click telling him the exit was closed. Of all the times James had been in Hogwarts, he never saw the headmaster's office. The spiral staircase stopped in front of an oak door. James knocked at the door and received permission to enter.

Entering the room James looked around. The room he was in was circular. The wall opposite to the door held many windows from which James noticed the Quidditch pitch. On the left wall, a great fireplace warmed up the place. On the right Dumbledore was waiting for him behind his desk.

As James approached, portraits from behind Dumbledore opened their eyes questionably at him probably wondering what trouble he got into. Dumbledore took a seat inviting him to mimic him. James sat down uncertainly. With long silver beard and sparkling blue eyes behind half-moon glasses, James found this man much more intimidating than anything he ever saw even after five years of knowing him

"Good evening James!" Dumbledore spoke.

James nodded "Good evening sir!"

Dumbledore's eyes seemed to twinkle looking at James expecting him to say something.

"Sir…sorry I'm late. I had some trouble getting here!"

"I have no doubt you had James!"

"Sir…if I may…why did you call me here?" James boldly asked and all the portraits nodded indicating that they too didn't know what was going on.

Dumbledore rose from his chair and turned around. He muttered something James didn't catch and all the portraits erupted into screams.

"I never!" a pudgy woman exclaimed.

"Dumbledore this is absurd!" a rough man shouted.

"This isn't part of the Hogwarts rules!' an elder man wearing a white wig growled.

Finally one man, Phineas Nigellus silenced them all "Dumbledore when you became headmaster two years ago you agreed that whatever you'd do, you'll consult with the former headmasters. What you are asking us makes us consider if you are indeed competent to be the headmaster of this school!"

Dumbledore nodded "I'm sorry my friends but what I'm requesting is for your own good! What I'm going to discuss is very important and might decide the ending of the war!"

A few portraits grumbled but most of them were convinced. One by one, the formal headmasters felt their portraits and Dumbledore turned to James again.

"James you no doubly have an idea by now of what we're going to talk about.

James swallowed air and reluctantly nodded.

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled "Now I know what an awful burden was placed on you and believe me I understand completely your motives."

James relaxed a little and slowed down his breath.

"However I want to help you. It has come to my attention that Voldemort, as you may have heard his name," James thought of last night's meeting and slowly nodded "is a former student of mine from when I was teaching Transfiguration" James's eyes widened "He is…was an orphan I myself went to, to convince him to come to Hogwarts. He came to me last year searching for the position of the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. However I had heard of his…hobbies and refused him. After that, our current teacher taking that post suffered a great illness and past away."

"Sir…" James tried to interrupt. Why was he hearing this?

"It's not polite to interrupt James!" Dumbledore scolded "But you no doubt want to ask what your implication to this is."

James took a double take. How did he know?

"Yes James I assume we finally came to the point of our meeting. I, as Voldemort too perhaps, know Legilimency. Though I know very little of it, it helps me decide if a student is guilty or not. But you don't need to know about that! Anyway," Dumbledore continued silencing James's protest "I want to teach you how to block it. Such important information you hold will surely be read by Voldemort the moment you're near him." James looked shocked and stared at the headmaster "Oh don't worry, I'm not going to look through your mind searching for information. As I told you I understand your motives. And yes, James, I'm sure you will no doubt face him!"

James sank on his chair looking down.

"What I'm going to teach you will send shock through many parents if they hear about this. Reading people's mind is illegal in the wizarding world and in circumstance, extremely rare. I won't be teaching you to read your friend's minds; I'll teach you to block anyone from entering yours. Now, I believe the ministry needs me right now so I'm afraid I'll leave you and we'll meet tomorrow. I'll send a student looking for you with the hour."

Dumbledore rose from his chair and walked to the fireplace. He reached into a bag on top of the fireplace and took some dust from it.

"Oh and Fawkes will tell me everything you do while in my office so I'd think more about mischievous deeds if I were you!" Dumbledore said pointing to a big red bird near his desk. Next he threw the dust in the fire. After the fire turned green he stepped in and was gone in a poof.

Shrugging James left the office after smiling at what he thought was a phoenix. He casually walked to the seventh floor not before he took a thoughtful glance at the fourth floor. He finally arrived in the common room when the curfew ended.

Nodding to Sirius and Peter who were in the room, he changed into his pajamas and climbed on the bed. Something was bugging him.

"Hey Sirius!" Peter called.

"What?" Sirius asked from the bathroom.

"What are you doing in there?"

"C'mon Peter, leave me alone!" Sirius responded "You know I like to look at myself in the mirror!"

James blinked rapidly. Mirror! There was something he missed. Mirror…mirror…

_"Good thing he left!" Lucius spat "We'll see who the Dark Lord will favor. You! Drag him to his common room and leave him there. I'll go through the mirror. It might be an important passageway from Hogwarts. _

James hit his head cursing himself for not realizing it quicker. Whatever was happening it had to do with a mirror on the fourth floor. A passage to Hogsmeade perhaps. James grinned at the thought that maybe he could sneak out of school without alerting the teachers. Also maybe he could find out more of that man he heard last night. But he won't risk going alone!

"Hey Black, Pettigrew!" James called.

"Yeah?" both responded shocked.

"How'd you like to sneak out of Hogwarts tonight?"

Soon James's grin was shared by the other two occupants of the room.

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Hey there! I wanted to finish the chapter before I make my author's note! So James realizes that little groups of Slytherins are gathering at night hoping to get into Voldemort's circle. His life being in danger by the dark lord should pretty much make him despise them right?;) Meanwhile Sirius gets more and more annoyed with his family though he doesn't get the idea just yet! Both of them realize that Remus too has secrets of his own and Peter…well, there's not much you could say about him! Oh and if you're wondering, the meeting was too short and James was too shocked to say anything about the Slytherins to Dumbledore and Dumbles knows better then to look through James's mind.

As always, PLEASE review and tell me what you think of the chapter!

p.s. the black bar that separates parts of the chapter isn't working currently for me so I put "xxxxxxxxx" instead.


	9. Hogsmeade

_Disclaimer: I am JKRowling, the creator of Harry Potter and this is the special novel I'm going to write after I finish book seven! I'm going to warn you that in book seven Harry will die and Voldemort will win. Then he'll discover love with Molly Weasley – who really is Helga Hufflepuff traveling in time - and they'll make ten little dark lords together! And yes, I do waste a lot of time reading fanfiction instead of writing my own bloody book.  
_

_Or not!  
_

_Hey guys! Here's the next chapter! I don't have much to say to you this time so I'll leave you to the story!_

**Chapter nine: Hogsmeade**

"Oi, Potter, you're sure this is the right way?" Came the voice of Sirius Black.

James silently nodded but realized that Sirius couldn't see him "Yeah I'm sure! Fourth floor. We're on the sixth."

He could sense Sirius shrug behind him "I swear if this is some kind of trap to get me detention…"

James cut him off "Nobody forced you to come Black. If you're too scared go back to the Gryffindor common room."

"Oh no! I'm not letting you have fun by yourself!"

"By the way, why did you invite us to come?" Peter asked a few steps behind Sirius.

James froze not sure if he wanted to tell them that he didn't want to confront a group of seventh year Slytherins by himself. "I figured I owed you for those dance lessons." He lied.

Sirius snorted "It's about time you repaid us!"

James couldn't help to wonder what on earth possessed him to consider Black smart enough to track him down and kill him. Even as it was, Black needed help to do his homework and begged Pettigrew every time to do it for him.

As they reached fifth floor James help a hand in front of the others to prevent them from moving further. "Wait here!"

Sirius looked scandalized "The hell we will!"

"Look," James said in a low whisper "I have to check on some things before we go further. I'll be back. I promise."

Sirius looked like he wanted to argue but Peter put a hand on his mouth "If he gets caught, we have a chance to run." he said so low that James couldn't hear.

Sirius nodded "Right!" he said to James "You go do your thing and we wait. But if you leave us here…"

"I won't!" James promised and went down the same secret staircase that he went down the day before.

He approached the door carefully, trying to not make any noise. He let out his breath after realizing that there wasn't anyone on the other side of the door.

Sirius was pacing left and right on the corridor anxious not bearing waiting for James to come. Peter sat on the floor calmly watching him.

"Do you think it's a trap?" Sirius erupted.

"I don't know. I think we should have a little faith in him." Peter responded.

Sirius ran his hand through his hair "It's just that…we didn't give him any reason to be civil to us. Sure… we try to teach him to dance but he still has to spy on Lupin. I would hate myself! And now out of nowhere, he asks us to join him in getting out of Hogwarts. It seems fishy to me."

Peter shrugged "Whatever it is we will find out soon enough!"

Their conversation was interrupted by James coming to them out of breath "Ok, this way!" he said pointing forward.

After a significant glance towards each other, Peter and Sirius followed, each of them grabbing their wand from the back pocket of their pajamas. Finally, after what seemed like years, they arrived at the fourth floor. Sirius looked at James expectantly and James pointed at the mirror. Everyone approached cautious as if expecting someone to jump from it and eat them.

Realizing that that won't happen, Sirius turned to James "Now what?" he asked raising an eyebrow.

James stared at the mirror for a minute realizing that he hadn't thought of that. He expected that it had a handle or something to open it. He tried to push the mirror out of the way but it didn't move.

"We have to open this!" he said stupidly.

Peter pushed through them with an idea. He took out his wand and pointed it at the mirror "_Alohomora_!" he shouted but the mirror still didn't move.

All three looked at each other disappointed.

"You think it's a password?" Sirius asked.

James shook his head "No. When I…found out about this, the one who passed through it didn't say anything. Password protected doors need the password to be said before opening."

Sirius sighed "So that leaves us with…what?"

James pondered "Maybe it needs a nonverbal spell. Or to be tapped somewhere."

"Maybe it opens to only some people!" Peter suggested.

"No! That sort of enchantment is powerful. I'm pretty sure Dumbledore doesn't know about this and he could sense if a powerful spell was placed here!" James responded.

"So…that leaves nonverbal or tapping." Sirius concluded.

"Or both!" Peter added.

James nodded.

"What exactly do you know?" Sirius asked.

James looked at Sirius torn between telling him where to go and telling him the truth. "Just that there is a passageway here and that it opens without saying anything."

"And how do you know that?" Peter finally asked.

"It's none of your concern!" James said avoiding looking at them.

"That's why you were so moody today wasn't it?" Sirius realized.

James nodded "That and your curiosity!"

"Maybe if we break it…" Peter suggested.

"Yeah but then everybody will know we're here!" James pointed out.

Sirius marched to the window shouting every spell he knew "_Alohomora! Open! Specialis Revelio! Wingardium Leviosa!_" but nothing worked.

"Let's tap it! Maybe that will work!" James proposed.

Half an hour later all of them soon realized that that wouldn't work either. Finally all three rested on the floor trying to figure out what was wrong.

James stared at the mirror hoping that if he stared enough it would work. He began looking at every detail of it…

"Maybe it's a spell too complicated for a first year." Peter said.

"You think?" Sirius taunted.

…The frame was made of mahogany, very polished; there wasn't even a speck of dirt on it…

"Let's come back tomorrow!" Sirius suggested getting up from the floor.

Peter nodded and got up too.

…And on top of it there was an inscription "Hope nullifies despair!" Well, that was odd.

"Coming Potter?" Sirius asked.

James ignored his as he approached the mirror. "Hey check this out!" he called.

Sirius and Peter came and followed James's line of sight. They too were surprised that they didn't see the writing earlier.

"You think it's a riddle?" Peter asked.

"No!" James answered "But there's something dodgy about it. How come we didn't see it earlier?"

"Maybe we had to hope or despair or something." Sirius mumbled referring to the writing.

James gently put his hand on it hoping to find some trace of charm as his father advised him to before coming to Hogwarts. Instead he found something else.

"Sirius put your hand here" he said indicating a spot on the writing.

Surprised at being called by his first name, Sirius didn't even try to back out and held his hand over. There was a gap in the frame where some letters were. Reading them out loud, his mouth turned into a smile and laughter came out.

After five minutes, James found out why and he too began to laugh.

"What is it?" Peter asked.

Not able to speak while laughing, Sirius put his hand over H and his other over U succeeding in making a word between his hands.

"Open!" James smiled looking at it. A sudden idea came to him and pushed his fingers over that word and the mirror suddenly disappeared in front of their eyes.

Before them was a dark staircase leading down. The passage had an aura of a cave, stalagmites and stalactites were coming from the earth, sometimes bonding making a column.

Sirius was the first to make a step down followed by James and Peter. As they descended, the stairs were rarer, being replaced by ground. After passing the final stair, James took out his wand and lit it. Sirius looked surprised at him wanting to say something but his pride got the better of him.

"You don't know how to light your wand?" James asked incredulous.

Sirius shook his head dismayed.

"So you know holographic charms and you can clearly cast the full body bind jinx," James said annoyed at the earlier accident "but you don't know how to light your wand?"

James saw with amusement that Sirius was becoming more and more annoyed and he enjoyed every moment of it.

"I didn't have any use for it!" Sirius finally said.

James wanted to ask what use he had to stun a person but maybe some things were better not known.

"Fine!" he finally said "The incantation is _Lumos_!"

Sirius nodded and lit his wand followed by Peter who for some reason also didn't light it.

The cave was big and soggy, with roots sticking from the roof – James presumed they were under the Forbidden Forest – and various plants growing, some even trying to bite them when they passed. There a permanent smell in it but nobody dared to think about what caused it. After what seemed like two hours, Sirius pointed with joy at the end of it where a pipe and a doorway.

Sirius arrived there first and pushed the door up. With help from Peter and James, he climbed up and a surprised exclamation came from him, then a sound of disgust and then a snigger.

"Here!" he said throwing a rope at them from where he was. Peter came first having the same succession of emotions and then James went up and found out why.

The door led to the interior of a bathroom cubicle which reeked of the smell from the cave. James realized with a start that the contents of waste were dropped…

"I don't know about you but I'm not going back there!" Sirius said following James's facial expressions.

"Well then, let's see where we are! I mean besides the bathroom!" James added.

He was thankful to get out of that place. His shoes would never be the same after this adventure.

The place they were in resembled a tea shop. In a small shop there were small round tables, a bar in a corner – maybe where the waitress was – and two chairs at each table. Though each of them had been to Hogsmeade, none recognized the place.

"What do you think this place is?" Peter asked.

James shrugged "I think it's pretty new. I've never been here before. It doesn't look much interesting."

"My parents sure wouldn't go here!" Sirius admitted.

They went to the front door hoping to get outside. After James successfully unlocked it with the _Alohomora_ spell, they got out to look at their surroundings.

Sirius gave a shriek behind him "I know what this place is!" he said gesturing to the shop sign "It's Madam Puddifoot's tea shop! All couples go here to snog and make puppy eyes." He made a childish disgusted face putting two fingers into his mouth trying to puke while Peter sniggered and James shook his head at Sirius's reaction.

"Potter, memorize this shop will you? I'm sure dear Corinne will love to come here one day!" Sirius teased batting his eyelashes.

Both Sirius and Peter laughed ironically at this before James shrugged and said "Thanks for the advice, I'll remember it!" which ceased their laughter.

"How did you say you found the tunnel?" Sirius asked when they were looking at the windows of some shops.

"I didn't!" James replied bored.

"Exactly!" Sirius retorted.

James sighed "If I tell you do you promise you won't tell anyone?"

Sirius considered a moment and nodded "Yeah. I just don't like secrets kept from me!"

So James told them. He explained how he was exploring the castle – though he didn't tell them why – and that he ran into the meeting. James looked at Sirius at that point but Sirius's face was unreadable. Then he told them that the man disappeared through the mirror.

"Did you hear any names?" Sirius asked after a long pause.

James nodded "Yeah, there was Rabastan Lestrange, Mulciber – the guy who was tortured – and Lucius Malfoy."

Though Sirius didn't have any reaction to the first two names, the last one had a definite reaction on him.

"Lu…Lucius Malfoy?" Sirius asked shaken.

"Yeah? You know the guy?"

Sirius nodded "Yeah…I had the pleasure. Were there," Sirius considered if he should continue "were there any girls there?"

James forced his mind "No…none that I could remember."

He could tell that Sirius was nervous "Narcissa. Was somebody names Narcissa there? Or Cissy?" he asked biting his lip.

"Does she have a last name?"

"Yeah…Narcissa Black."

James stopped to look at Sirius whose lip was bleeding already "Relative?" he asked

"Cousin!" Sirius answered.

"I didn't hear her name or any voice belonging to a girl there." James tried to make his voice sound assuring.

Sirius nodded smiling and continued to walk. They just passed a post office where they saw hundreds of owls resting before Sirius said anything.

"You know I don't approve of the guy! I'm talking of Voldemort" he explained seeing their faces "Sure I hate mudbloods, and I can't stand Evans. I think it isn't fair that muggles just become wizards or witches while we hide all our lives from them but I don't plan to go killing the lot of them."

Peter nodded and James looked surprised at Sirius not expecting sincerity from him. It was almost Christmas and there already were serious changes in Sirius. Weather they were already there from the first day or that he got them in time he didn't know. It was comforting to know that Sirius wouldn't kill him in his sleep, but there was still a long way to go.

Finally they reached a place that was still open. An inn, apparently, and Sirius and Peter sprang forward leaving James behind. He caught up with them at the entrance. Both were wearing a big grin and Peter was drooling staring at the waitress.

The inn was frequented a lot by the two when they came with their families. It was called The Three Broomsticks though James didn't see even one. He was surprised that he missed this place on his visits to this town. His parents insisted on going to another inn much less pleasant where they talked to the old innkeeper for hours.

"Hello dears! What can I serve you with?" the waitress asked when they approached her.

She was very pretty, James noticed. She was young, in her twenties, and had a very charming smile on her face, something that his insides melted seeing.

"Hello Madam Rosmerta!" Sirius said charmingly "We'll have three butterbeers, please!"

She smiled again at them and went to her work.

"Cough up the sickles Potter. I'm not paying for you!" Sirius said after she left.

James put his hand in his pocket only to realize that he was still in his pajamas. Looking at Sirius and Peter he saw that they were too. Curiously, no one sensed the cold of winter.

"They put a heating charm on the town at night!" Peter said noticing his confusion "You don't come here often do you?"

James shook his head "Only on springs. Once or twice!"

Peter nodded while Rosmerta approached them with the bottles. "There you go dears! That will be six sickles!"

Both reached their pockets for money and James was getting frantic. He forgot to bring some with him.

Sirius saw this and snorted "Don't tell me you don't have it! Bloody hell Potter, this is Hogsmeade!" he said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Rosmerta looked unsure "Don't worry! It's on the house! Just this time!" she winked at him and retreated.

"Lucky bloke!" Sirius mumbled "When we come back to the castle I'm gonna get me some of these!" he said pointing to James's glasses "Maybe then she'll give me 'something on the house'!"

"Sirius, you already owe her five sickles and three knuts!" Peter pointed out "Last time you came, remember?"

Sirius shrugged "I'm going to pay her…sometime!"

"Where are we going next?" Peter asked. It was weird for James to see the chubby boy so alive and…rational.

"You think we could break into Zonko's? I bet we could find a lot of stuff there!"

James shook his head finally talking about something he did know "I think the owners put an anti thief jinx on the door or something. It's too risky! We were able to get out of Puddifoot's but that place holds nothing over night. Zonko's is full!"

Sirius swore making a few heads from other tables to turn to him.

"Careful Black! One of them," he pointed at the people from the tables "might rat on us. And maybe one of them is Voldemort's follower!"

"You mean a Death Eater?" Sirius asked.

"What?" both James and Peter asked at the same time.

Sirius smirked "What? You mean you don't know?"

Both shook their heads.

Sirius sighed "Alright, if this gets out I'm personally going to kill you! Potter, I'm only telling you this because you shared with us before. Listen," all three brought their heads together and Sirius spoke in a slow voice "one of my cousins, Narcissa's sister, Bellatrix, got an invitation from Lestrange to join Voldemort. She got to send me a letter, a real one that is, not a howler, and told me with great excitement" Sirius looked disgusted saying this "that her 'Dark Lord' accepted her and sent her to kill some muggles. After she did, there was a ceremony – she didn't tell me what, I don't think she trusts me that much anymore – and Voldemort proclaimed her one of his Death Eaters." He finished and all returned to their seats "This guy is really weird if you ask me!" he continued "Wants us to take him seriously but he makes up these nicknames! He's mad! Who takes pride in calling himself Voldemort anyway?"

"Why are they called Death Eaters? I thought they were the Knights of Walpurgis." James asked.

"Don't know! I think his ego doesn't let him use something someone else used before. The Knights were Grindelwald's. He wants something completely his."

"So they eat death?" Peter stupidly asked. He appeared to be shocked by the information as James was.

"Bella didn't say much. Her note was short. I think Voldemort doesn't want the information getting spread, so he could say it himself with a bang! I bet a galleon that in the next two weeks he's going to blow up a town or something."

"Can you get more information?" James asked. Maybe he could prevent this.

Sirius raised an eyebrow "Like I said Potter, my cousin took a great risk telling me this. I don't want for it to get it spread around!" he warned.

James nodded. He gave his word and he would keep it. He wouldn't say anything to Dumbledore. Though it wouldn't hurt to express his worries that something bad will happen…

"So how many cousins do you have?" James asked partly interested.

"Many actually! Either once, twice, thrice removed or something. I remember seeing even a Potter on the family tree though we're pretty much apart so don't start calling me cousin!" James nodded but thought himself more like an uncle judging by his parent's age

"Close cousins are three. There's Cissy, she's a fifth year in Slytherin. Tall, blonde girl looking like something went up her ass. It might be even true because she started dating Lucius Malfoy this summer." James almost choked on his butterbeer at the weird information he was receiving. "I won't be surprised when they announce a baby on the way! Bunch of inbreeds the Malfoys are!" Sirius snorted.

"There's Bella, she finished school a couple of years ago. She was a Slytherin. In fact, my whole bloody family was in Slytherin except for me. I think Dumbledore used Imperius on the hat or something when it put me with your bunch!" Sirius pointed at James "Anyway her face is normal but she's not exactly thin. Tall girl, dark hair, good looking, and proudly wasting it on a Lestrange, though now I think she's using him to get to Voldemort."

"Then there's Andromeda, my favorite cousin. She finished Hogwarts last year. The only one who supported me when I got into Gryffindor. She keeps telling me to ignore the rest of the family and do something I'm proud off. She doesn't really understand the situation clearly does she? I think she's happy that now I'm the new black sheep of the family. Before she was the one hated because she thinks muggles and mudbloods have more to give and that we shouldn't judge then because of their blood. A bit odd that she was in Slytherin! She's a tall red head – funny how that family has so many hair colors – very good looking and big hazel eyes. You can look at her for ages and you can't find something to criticize her body. Even the minister keeps staring at her when he comes over. Peter here asked her to marry him once, poor kid! Anyway these are my cousins! Any questions?" Sirius looked at James, who looked sleepy, as if daring him to ask something else.

James shook his head "No thanks! Come on let's get back at the castle!" Both nodded and all three rose from the table. They greeted Madam Rosmerta good-bye, each in his way, and went outside.

"How are we going back if we don't go through the tunnel?" Peter realized.

"We can't go through the Forbidden Forest! They're vampires and dangerous creatures in there!" Sirius added.

"So how do we go back?" James asked for all three of them.

They looked hesitant and all three sighed. They went back to Madame Puddifoot's and through the cave again not without Sirius putting an anti-smell charm on all of them – though he didn't quite get it right on James and the smell was doubled when he went through it.

"Hey Black!" James said when they were at the mirror "We went through some underground passage but this is the fourth floor!"

Sirius seemed to guess James's question "Don't be too surprised. It's Hogwarts after all!"

James shrugged and went towards the Gryffindor tower. On the way back they weren't as lucky as they were on the way to the mirror. Filch, the caretaker, almost caught them if James didn't hide all of them behind a suit of armor. Peeves also caught a glimpse of them as they were up on the sixth floor staircase and went to give the alarm to Filch. Red in the face from running, they arrived at the fat lady before Filch got there.

The night wasn't over and James got another surprise when he opened the door to their dorm. Remus was sleeping, all covered in wounds in his bed oblivious of the commotion.


	10. Targeted

_Disclaimer: I'm going to say this again! I'm not some rich English woman. Nor will I ever be! (no offence to some people) _

_Yippee! Chapter 10 already! I can't believe I made it so far. However school soon starts and this year will be pretty busy. Ah, who am I kidding? James and Sirius aren't the only ones who get great grades without studying. Although my mum will shut me in my room but I'll figure something out. Thanks for my beta: mellyone and for those who reviewed for convincing me to continue writing._

_P.S. I know some people could be bothered by this but I don't really care. This chapter is dedicated to Steve Irwin, our little Hagrid who died today doing his beloved job. I didn't watch his show but I heard a lot about him even in my little part of the world. May he rest in peace!_

**Chapter ten: Targeted**

"Remus?" James whispered to the sleeping boy, unsure if he should wake him up or leave him there until morning.

The boy was covered in wounds, painful looking ones, and his clothes barely hung on his body. His lips were purple and swelled, as if he had bitten them until he felt them no more and his face was whiter as James could ever remember. James had the impression for one moment that he was seeing a corpse but then he heard loud snores that reassured him that Remus was alive, as alive as anyone in that condition could be.

Black and Pettigrew also gasped when they first saw him but either they didn't care enough or they did it because James could see them because they turned to the bathroom and closed the door behind them.

James looked around the room searching for anything to occupy him. Then he realized that it was still dark outside so he should sleep. He turned to his chest searching for his pajamas and soon realized that he was still wearing them. He sighed and walked towards his bed, not feeling sleepy at all. He was too worried for Remus. He didn't think it was a good idea to wake him but that boy needed urgent attention from Madame Pomfrey. He wanted now more than anything to have listened to his parents and learn some healing charms.

As he was struggling to figure out what to do next, questions began popping into his head. Why was he hurt? Who did this to him? Why was he at Hogwarts when he could have stayed at his mother's house? Why return in the middle of the night?

The frustration of not being capable to do anything didn't leave him until after half an hour when he fell asleep. Neither Sirius nor Peter came out of the bathroom but they were probably busy making theories about Remus. James felt annoyed that they were gossiping while Remus was unconscious.

His dream was again of running from the dark lord. This time instead of Sirius was Lucius Malfoy and an army of little zombie blonde kids trying to tackle him. Remus then came to the rescue killing everyone. Then Remus became a blonde woman version of Sirius yelling at him because he wasn't letting her kids play. She took her wand out and said the killing curse.

James woke up feeling as if he was being pushed by someone. That someone was Sirius looking at him questioningly. James woke up and realized he was on the floor. The sun was already shinning outside and Sirius and Peter were both dressed. Remus was still asleep or unconscious.

"Right," James said "let me change and we'll carry Remus to the hospital wing."

Both Sirius and Peter nodded and waited for James to quickly put on a warm sweater and some robes.

"What do you think happened to him?" Peter asked while James was changing.

"I don't know but it's pretty bad." Sirius answered.

"Do you think Voldemort has something to do with this?"

"Neah! If he wanted to hurt him, he would kill him! It's not his type to hurl a boy over a cliff or something."

James finally came and levitated Remus's body. They silently walked to Madam Pomfrey earning a few stares on the way from the other students. Snape was really curious and didn't leave them until James threatened to hex him. When they arrived Remus was quickly put on a bed and they were thrown out.

"Why didn't you come to me yesterday?" they heard Madame Pomfrey saying when they were closing the door.

Sirius turned to James with a look of determination "Right! You find out what this is all about. If not, poor Corinne will share another wonderful night with me."

James, already annoyed, snapped at Sirius "First of all, why don't you ask him yourself? He trusts me as much as he trusts you. Second, 'poor Corinne' is gone for the holidays so good luck with her!"

James left them alone and walked to the Great hall. He found out that because of their low number, instead of four tables there were two. Gryffindor was sharing with Slytherin while Ravenclaw was with Hufflepuff. He watched with amusement that the Slytherin-Gryffindor table was split in half. The Slytherins were at one end then there was a three seat space and then there were the Gryffindors. James sat down in one of empty seats which meant that a Slytherin was to his left. Unfortunately the Slytherin was Snape.

Snape sneered when James sat and looked at him with a face full of disgust. James chuckled realizing that Snape had not yet forgotten his little Halloween prank. James didn't have anything against the boy. Really! But he was a Slytherin and a greasy one at that. The fact that Snape was always with his nose in the air mocking every Gryffindor didn't help.

"What has Lupin gotten into now?" Snape suddenly asked.

This surprised James not imagining Snape a petty talk person "Don't know, not that I'd tell you!"

"Don't think I don't know you're planning something Potter! I know your kind! You can't resist showing off!"

James was torn between wanting to laugh and punch Snape in the face "What's it to you anyway?" he asked.

He was saved from a fight by Sirius who came and sat between them not appearing to realize that he interrupted something. He put a few potatoes in his plate and filled his glass with pumpkin juice.

"Hey! Can I help you?" Sirius asked when he noticed the glare he was receiving from Snape. James tried to stifle his laughter by drinking juice but ended up choking in it. Snape turned to his food without saying anything.

"Thanks!" James said gritting his teeth. He wasn't going to forgive Sirius for meddling that easy.

"What are you talking about?" Sirius asked oblivious to everything.

"Nothing!" James quickly responded relieved that he didn't have to thank Sirius, though if one looked better he would see a twinkle in Sirius's eyes.

"Anyway I thought we could go see Lupin after lunch, give him time to recover you know. Peter wants to talk to Wilkes so it'll be just us. Then I'm going to go and leave you there to talk to him. Maybe if he's hurt enough he'll talk!" Sirius concluded.

Any good thoughts about Sirius James had at that moment faded. Instead, a rush of annoyance and anger rose realizing he was asked to betray his friend and also take advantage of him.

He spent the morning outside playing with snow. After a snowball fight with the Prewett brothers and their cousin, James headed to the castle for a quiet lunch (he kept his distance from the Slytherin side of the table) and unfortunately met with Sirius. After eating, they both got up and went to visit Remus.

The infirmary was unusually empty. When James brought Remus earlier that day, four beds were occupied by some fourth years complaining about Quidditch injuries. Now the beds were empty, and only Remus was there, isolated in one of the beds Madame Pomfrey had secured by her office.

Checking around to make sure Madame Pomfrey wasn't listening, they approached Remus's bed. Most of his injuries were already healed but he was still very pale and his lips swollen.

James would have left but Sirius, seeming to expect this, took a pillow from a nearby bed and hit Remus on the head with it waking him up.

"Merlin, Black! Did your parents do this to you when you were little?" James asked infuriated looking at Remus who was slowly realizing where he was. Behind him, Sirius's face darkened and he gave a small nod not seen by anybody.

"Hey James!" Remus greeted in what he hoped to be cheerful but came out as a grunt. "Black!" Remus nodded towards him actually wanting to grunt.

James sniggered and Sirius rolled his eyes. Remus looked around at his surroundings clearly not surprised.

"We brought you here this morning." James explained "You looked awful and were covered in scratches. You really have to do something about your furry little problem!" he joked.

If Remus was still drowsy, after James's comment he widened his eyes and came to a sitting position "W-What?" he stuttered.

Sirius looked curios and interested too and James gave a grin and winked at Remus "C'mon Remus, it's nothing to be ashamed of! You already told me about your pet Cerebus!"

Remus let his breath out relieved. "Right! I didn't understand what you were talking about. Yeah, my dad accidentally left a firewhiskey bottle on the floor and my dog drank it. He got really mad and white bubbles were coming out of his mouth. Luckily, my mom was at the hospital so only I was there to face him." he said lowering his gaze from them.

"So why did you come back to Hogwarts?" Sirius asked clearly not impressed with the story.

"Well, they had to put Snickers, my dog, in the pound, that's a muggle pet hospital, but they didn't think I was safe at home so they sent me here!" Remus quickly explained.

"So they preferred the dog and sent you here to spend your holidays?" Sirius asked.

"Yeah Black, keep talking!" James retorted annoyed.

Sirius's face darkened again and he spoke in a small whisper "Look, they may not be very smart but they have their reasons. After I have time to discuss the situation with them they'll understand! They didn't do anything to you so shut up!"

James snorted "Yeah except they have the stupid habit to insult me and my entire family whenever they get the chance, they hate every muggle-born and want to kill them just because they want to and besides," James continued lowering his voice to a low whisper "you said it yourself that they support Voldemort and I'll be damned if I'll follow that git!"

"Guys," Remus interrupted suddenly nervous "cut it out! My parents didn't make me want to come here! I actually enjoy the idea of spending Christmas here!"

Sirius looked surprised at Remus and shook his head "You're a strange one! Well, I did my part of caring for today," James snorted "and I'll leave you two alone! Have fun!" and he left leaving James and Remus.

"Er…so, how are you?" James asked edgy.

"Much better from what I hear. Though every part of my body is sore and my mouth tastes like garbage!" Remus smiled "So when aren't you going to ask me the real reason?"

James staggered "What are you talking about?" he asked innocently.

"I don't think Sirius would come here without Peter because he gives a damn. And you seemed upset with him. I imagine he wanted to come here because he suspected I would be telling you and he could eavesdrop. But you caught him in the act and forced him to come and he couldn't give up the act."

James was amazed by Remus's thinking. Though not entirely correct, that was some quick thinking.

"Anyway," Remus continued "I have to tell you something."

"You…you shouldn't! You don't have to! Only if you want to!" James stammered.

Remus shook his head "No. Not about that." He took a deep breath "A few months ago, actually when Corinne got that letter and you went after her remember?"

James gave a small grin remembering exactly the incident "Yeah, she got a letter from her mother and she was upset. I went after her and I upset her more." he looked at the ceiling for a second and added "though I still don't understand why she erupted into sobs."

Remus laughed "That's the one. Well, after you left the table something happened. Sirius came and pushed me into your seat. Then an owl came." he paused "He brought a letter. It was a dark letter, with the seal and everything. First I thought it was addressed to me,"

"I'm so sorry Remus" James interrupted.

"No. It was addressed to the Gryffindor table and had the location I was at. I was frightened! I thought my end had come. Either way I chose I'd have still been hunted. And then I opened it." he sighed.

James nodded "And it wrote that either you join them or you'll be killed."

"It wrote either the receiver joined them or he'll be killed. When I saw the first line I understood it wasn't addressed to me! It…it began…it began with 'dear Mr. James Potter'!" Remus finally said.

James stared at his friend for a while trying to let the news sink in. He had a choice to make but somehow…he had already chosen.

"Right! Give me the letter, envelope and everything." James said.

Remus didn't say a word and put his hand in his robe and shakily handed the black letter to James "I sealed it again. I'm sorry I didn't give this to you earlier. I wanted to give you last night but I was too weak and I think I fainted. I don't even remember seeing either of you in the dorm."

James silently nodded and examined the envelope. It was like he thought it would be. It wore a dark color. The darkest he ever saw. On the front was the animate picture of the skull with the serpent coming out of his mouth. The skull's eyes were shining red and seemed to laugh at James while the serpent was trying to come out of his mouth unsuccessfully and hissed from time to time. Turning on the back, the same image was there, this time in a miniature version acting as the letter's seal.

James looked at Remus as if searching for confirmation. He pulled his wand out and muttered "_Flagrate_" causing the tip of his want to turn red. He pointed it at the letter and made an X causing little sparks on the way. The letter started to burn and James thought that for a moment he heard a distant hiss emanating in the room.

"Aren't going to read it?" Remus asked shocked by his friend's decision.

James shrugged and tossed the burning letter in the bin "Why bother? I know what I want and reading it will cost me some time. I meant it you know! What I said to Sirius." he explained "I don't care what he offers me. I don't care if the whole world turns to him. I'll not be joining his little army. When he comes after me, and I know he will, I'll be ready and I'll give him hell! Screw first year!" James swore determined "I'll be learning as many jinxes as I can. OWL, NEWT and even more advanced."

Remus smiled "You're taking this well." he observed half joking, half serious.

James nodded "When I came to Hogwarts, the hat and McGonagall told me 'Carpe Diem', you know seize the moment! I didn't understand then. I thought they were telling me to be relaxed. But now, now I think it meant more like 'be prepared!'"

Remus nodded more relaxed, convinced that his friend would choose the right side "Yeah. What will come, will come! And we'll meet it when it does!" he concluded.

James grinned "I like that too." he thought about something and laughed "Hey I'll write my own book! Advices and slogans for the next victims of dark lords! I think it's catchy!"

Remus joined in the laugh "You better give me credits, and at least 15 percent."

"Yeah!" James said "At least the sorting hat can't give me any problems. He already sorted me. He doesn't have any pockets to hold money anyway!"

"We'll make a survey! Sirius and Peter will go to every dorm and ask if the sorting hat gave some more advices. I don't think he'll mind to go to the seventh year girl's dorm!"

"You know he did try a month ago! He ran up the stairs but they turned into a slide so he tripped on the way and went past several people's heads. You should have seen him!" James laughed, tears coming out of his eyes.

They spent the entire afternoon making jokes imagining different possibilities to make the book but after a while they got bored and started playing wizard's chess. Finally James left Remus after losing several games and only saved by Madame Pomfrey insisting that he was draining too much of Remus's energy. He quickly ate in the Great Hall successfully avoiding Sirius and Peter (they didn't come at all which was strange) and went to the stone gargoyle, up the moving staircase and into Dumbledore's office.

The first thing he saw was the phoenix perched near Dumbledore's desk looking much more worn than the last time he saw it. Another thing that surprised him was that instead of the strange objects Dumbledore had on his desk last time was a big bowl with silvery liquid and strange engravings on the margins. Dumbledore was talking with some furious portraits like the last time probably making them leave their portraits again.

James made a coughing sound trying to alert Dumbledore of his presence. Dumbledore nodded and after he was assured that all portraits were gone, he turned to James with the usual twinkle in his eyes looking like a small child in an old man's body.

"Hello James," he said "have a seat! Care for a Bertie Bott's?" he offered.

James shook his head still staring at the bowl.

"Ah, yes! I see you already took notice of my new asset. This is a Pensieve, a useful object in which you can store memories that disturb you. I wanted to buy one for a while now but I didn't have a strong enough motive until now."

James hesitated "Sir? What motive?"

Dumbledore took his focus of the Pensieve and looked strait into James's eyes "You!"

James shifted uncomfortable in his seat not wanting to be the cause of Dumbledore's discomfort. "I didn't want a Pensieve."

Dumbledore gave a smile "I know James. But since you refuse so much to offer information while we will have classes you will have to store all your memories on the subject in here. After it's over we will place them back in your head."

James gaped at Dumbledore surprised that the headmaster would talk about memories like they were little inconvenient toys. Unfortunately, he had a point so James nodded. "How?" he asked.

"The procedure is quite simple. You point your wand to your head and the incantation is '_Capio memoria_'. Then you replay the events in your head pulling your wand slowly from it. Unfortunately I cannot perform it for you since the caster can only take his memory not anyone else's."

James sighed, closed his eyes and pointed his wand as instructed. He cast the spell and felt like a bucket of pins was dropped on him and every part of his head was silently yelling to get this over with. Focusing on his memory, he gently began taking his wand away, remembering less and less of that incident. Finally, when his memory finished playing in his head, and discovered that it didn't exist anymore, he opened his eyes and gasped when he saw the silver string hanging from his wand. He slowly let it drop in the bowl and turned to face Dumbledore.

"Excellent." he said "Now we must continue to what we started yesterday. As I was saying, the art of deciphering memories and thoughts belonging in other people's minds is Legilimency. The one opposed to it, blocking intruders from seeing your thoughts, is Occlumency. The procedure is simple but I'm afraid you'll only master it through hard work. You have to clear your mind of any powerful thoughts; love, hate, bravery, scariness, or any thing that makes us human."

James stared at Dumbledore contemplating if the brilliant man had gone crazy "Sir, if that is how I must be from now on, how will I…exist?" he stupidly asked.

Dumbledore chuckled "Don't worry, after a while you'll be able to feel but as a beginner, I'm afraid there is no other choice. A factor that would help is if you imagine anything that could make you peaceful. For example, I happen to enjoy the sensation of relaxing in a chain in a pair of new socks. You may enjoy the sensation of lying in your bed or…flying on a broomstick." he added guessing James's thoughts.

James smiled and ran his hand through his hair remembering the wonderful sensation of flying.

"All right," Dumbledore concluded "be ready!" he raised his wand and muttered "_Legilimens_!"

As James was flying, his broom bounced for a second. Then it started spinning and he fell. He saw his father grabbing him and spinning him around when he was five. He saw his mother hurrying him to the train station while his father was lying in the hospital bed. He saw Sirius's lip bleeding when he promised that he would find out about Remus.

No! He had to stop this. He could get in trouble! Focusing on his broom again, he started to lift from his memory towards the sky.

James opened his eyes and realized he was on the floor covered in sweat. Dumbledore looked at him with a mixture of worry and pity.

"Don't worry James. The first couple of times will be like that but we must prefect your Occlumency."

"Yes sir!" James said rising from the floor he went for his chair but Dumbledore interrupted.

"I think for the time being, it will be better to stand."

James nodded and closed his eyes again. He was flying in the forest in a spring day. The birds were singing and the trees were growing. Suddenly wind started to blow and he fell of the broom. His mother was singing to him. His father was giving him his first broom. His mother was crying over him.

No! That was personal. He concentrated on his last memory with his first broom. He sprung in the air as fast as he could, trying to leave all his worries behind.

This time James woke up on his knees. His fists were clenched and he wondered if he opened them he would find blood.

This time Dumbledore was smiling at him impressed "Very good. Although you didn't stop me you focused on other memories thus you stopped me from entering too far. Also you managed to resurface with the aid of your memories."

James smiled and ran his hand through his hair glad that he did something that impressed Dumbledore.

"Let me help you with that!" Dumbledore said pointing at his wounded hand. The gashes disappeared and the pain was slightly decreased.

"Thank you sir!"

"Don't mention it! James, I heard you were an excellent flyer. School rules don't allow first year students to play Quidditch for their team. However, I would advice you to seek Kingsley Shacklebolt, the captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch Team and speak to him about going to his trainings. This will improve your maneuvering so it'll harder for me to push you off and as well train our new player."

James grinned "Really?" he asked then added "Sir."

"I have no doubt that your father has trained you well. The Potters were always good flyers for generations and each one played for Gryffindor. I imagine that you will be no exception. Now," he said with a twinkle in his eyes "I've praised you enough. We will continue. This time, James, I want you to grab tighter on your broom. Don't let any thoughts come in your mind. As you fly, you do not exist but only in spirit. Do you understand?"

James nodded and closed his eyes. He was flying on a broom, a Nimbus 1000, the latest one. It had improved acceleration, capable of 100 miles per hour and handling, turning 360 degrees on a turning point in mid-air. As James was flying towards the mountains, clouds gathered and a storm started. Tides of wind were coming and going unbalancing the broom. James was holding to it with his life gluing his fingers to the handle. As he was doing this, a lightning bold blasted the broom off and James fell. He was at his fourth year birthday. He was playing in the yard with his parents. He was opening the compartment door and saw Remus and Lily for the first time. He was at the Slug party watching Sirius dancing closely with Corinne.

Oh no he won't! It was hard enough for James to watch it the first time. He tried to push Dumbledore out of his head and when he saw that he couldn't, he transfigured Sirius into a broom and jumped out of the window with it flying away from the castle.

He opened his eyes again and saw that he was on the floor panting barely able to breathe. Dumbledore made a swish with his wand and James was able to breathe normal again thought his head started to hurt.

"Excellent James!" Dumbledore said in a low voice not meeting his eyes. James wondered if he did something wrong or if he disappointed him. "I think this is all for today. Practice this as much as you can. Don't forget to talk to Mr. Shacklebolt for Quidditch practices. We will meet again in three days at the same hour. I think it's enough time to celebrate Christmas."

James nodded and looked at the Pensieve. He withdrew his wand and dipped the tip in the silvery liquid. Receiving a nod from Dumbledore, he began to put it back in his head the same way he took it out. This time, he felt like his brain was pushing his head trying to make room for the memory.

"Sir?" James silently said to his headmaster "I…er…do you have any news with Voldemort?" he asked.

Dumbledore took a grave face and looked at the window "No. He has been quiet for a while. The newspapers don't report anything either. I think that either he is recruiting or planning a horrible attack. I'm afraid we can't stop either from happening."

"Sir, maybe we can!" James said "Two night ago…I…I couldn't sleep. So I kind of left the common room and went exploring." James stopped and looked at the headmaster who wasn't showing any sign that he would punish James "and I overhead a meeting and students were talking about Voldemort. Lucius Malfoy was there. Mulciber and Rabastan Lestrange were also there!"

"I'm sorry to say this James but I cannot do anything about this information!" Dumbledore interrupted.

"What? Why?"

"The Malfoys and the Lestranges are very old and very influential families. Doing anything against them just because one first year student overheard them while walking aimlessly through the castle past curfew…Well, it might give us more trouble than anything. Also they aren't Voldemort's supporters yet."

"There is someone!" James remembered. "There was an adult talking with them."

"And I suppose he came in the same way you and Mr. Black and Mr. Pettigrew went to Hogsmeade?" Dumbledore asked looking strait at James through his half-moon spectacles.

James looked surprised then he nodded "Yeah. I suppose you…"

"No. I don't need Legilimency to know who goes through Hogsmeade after dark. Madame Rosmerta sent me an owl this morning asking me why three of my students were at her bar after midnight in their pajamas. I was amused and I won't do anything to punish you this time James but I won't allow you to roam through the castle and out of it in such dangerous times." His joyful twinkle disappeared and his face became grave "Make no mistake, Voldemort is real as well as the threat. He was a hard working boy while he was my student and he's capable of anything. Now, unless you have anything else to tell me I suggest you hurry to your common room. Curfew is almost over and if Argus catches you I'm not responsible for any punishment Minerva gives you."

James nodded and saying good-bye to the headmaster, he left the office jogging to the Gryffindor portrait.

As he opened the door to his dorm he saw that Remus still hadn't returned and regretted that his friend will enjoy Christmas in the hospital wing. Sirius and Peter were changing and looked up at James when he entered.

Sirius was the first to ask "So…what lame excuse did Lupin find to explain himself from coming to Hogwarts in the middle of the night looking like a bloody Inferi?"

James shrugged thinking quickly of a lie. He didn't want Black to know about his issues or he wouldn't ever hear the end of it "He says he fell asleep on the Knight Bus and woke up several hours later so the driver didn't know where he had to stop."

Sirius snorted "Only an idiot would come up with that lie."

James resisted the urge to punch Sirius in the face and went to his trunk to change. His head hurt from the Occlumency practices with Dumbledore and he was still tired after last night's adventure.

"So what'd you two do at dinner?" James asked

"While I was talking to Wilkes he let it slip that the Slytherin common room password is 'bad unicorns'. Sirius and I went to check it out and we showed our gratitude to that lot for insulting us and ignoring us simply because we're Gryffindors." Peter explained.

James fought back a grin "Oh? What'd you do?"

Sirius grinned and casually explained "Let's just say that my entire collection of Dung Bombs has made its purpose!"


	11. Christmas at Hogwarts

_Disclaimer: Take a guess!_

_Hello all you happy people! Chapter eleven is up! I'm sorry to say that the next chapter will suffer a delay. There are three more days until school starts and my mother is panicked that I haven't done any homework at all. I bet she just wants to play more "ricochet". Either way, computer is off limits.  
_

**Chapter eleven: Christmas at Hogwarts **

James woke up on Christmas day surrounded by shouting and laughter. Sirius and Peter apparently had already woken up and started to open their presents. Groggily, he pulled the drapes and revealed a laughing Sirius who wore a jester hat and a shocked Peter who was staring at a box filled with underwear.

Grinning, James pulled out his wand and silently levitated the underwear and pulled them over Sirius's head. It was Peter's turn to laugh and Sirius to be shocked. Both of them soon discovered that James was awake and surprisingly, they didn't insult, mock or anything they usually did. Instead Sirius congratulated James for the prank and offered him some of his Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. Unfortunately, James picked a shoe flavored bean that sent him into the bathroom trying to get rid of the taste accompanied by Sirius's and Peter's laughter.

Remus still hadn't come from the hospital wing which James regretted when he was muttering all sorts of incantations over the sink to clean his mouth. He finally decided to just Scorgify his mouth and let the soap taste replace the shoe taste.

Coming back in the dorm he was surprised to see a struggle between the two boys fighting over a picture of an incredibly pretty girl.

"C'mon Sirius, she gave this to me!"

"That's my bloody cousin and I'm not letting you do whatever there is in your head with it."

"But it's mine!" Peter moaned.

"And that's my cousin!" Sirius argued.

After five minutes of watching with amusement to those two arguing, James understood that girl was Sirius's cousin, Andromeda, who sent Peter her picture as her Christmas gift.

Going to his bed, he looked at his own stack of presents. It seemed bigger than Peter's and Sirius's. First he unwrapped the one from his mother. It was a book and a heavy letter. In the letter, his mother congratulated him for his good grades, for being a good son and wishing him all the happiness in the world. He found out the reason the letter was so heavy when in the letter, his mother mentioned that she added some galleons in case he needed to order something from a store. The book was a new special edition of "Quidditch Throughout the Ages" including information of new brooms and new teams statistics. He quickly hid it under his pillow for future reading.

Next he opened his father's gift which was the biggest of the stack. His father gave him a broom kit and James's broom explaining in a note that Dumbledore informed him of the intense Quidditch practice James was going to have. He added that he was proud of him for becoming such a good boy.

Other presents were from his friends back home who either finished Hogwarts or didn't even go to it because they weren't eleven years old yet. He grinned when he opened a magical Jack-in-the-box his neighbor gave him. It was charmed to open and kiss the one who touches it without saying the password "smooches". He put it aside hoping that Sirius or Peter would be curious enough to pick it up.

The last present was small and badly wrapped. As if the giver was in a hurry. James read the sign on it and discovered it was from Remus. He felt sorry for the boy and thanked Merlin that his parents were rich. Unwrapping, he revealed three new quills. He smiled remembering that before Remus left he was complaining about his leaking quill. He put them on the bed far from the other gifts that seemed so impersonal now. He hoped Remus liked the defense against the dark arts book he had given him. That boy always seemed to be with his nose in a book.

Sirius received a pair of new robes that conveniently had the Slytherin snake on it, a bag of sweets from Peter, a book all about dark creatures from his brother, joke presents from an uncle, and plenty of dark magical objects from his relatives. James wasn't sure if Sirius actually wanted that or he was given them to remind him of his family's beliefs. Nevertheless, Sirius didn't seem upset that he got them.

Peter, after getting rid of the underwear, explained that his mother probably sent it to someone else and that he received it as a mistake (though James saw that in the box there was a letter addressed to him). He also received Andromeda's photo - that Sirius ripped apart - and some books from his family and sweets from Sirius. Strangely, both got the same quantity of candy and neither looked surprised.

Coming down, James met with other Gryffindors that stayed at the castle. The Prewett brothers were cheering and wearing big brown sweaters with their respective initials on them. When James asked them they explained that a sister of theirs had her first child and they just received the letter. They were waiting for their cousin to come down and tell her the news. James smiled and congratulated them thinking that was probably the best Christmas gift anyone could receive.

Over the week, the Hogwarts staff had tried to bring the Christmas spirit into the castle. The large man that showed them to their boats in the first day, Hagrid, was the jolliest person James had ever seen. He single-handedly brought about twelve trees in the great hall and decorated them himself. But after he turned his back, McGonagall swished her wand and the trees redecorated themselves into a more pleasant view.

Flitwick and Dolohov charmed the suit armors to sing carols and with the help of the Herbology professor, Madam Sprout, hung mistletoes from place to place. A seventh year couple once walked under one and explained that their feet just froze and only when they kissed they were let free again. McGonagall transfigured some snow men to hop around in the grounds wishing everyone a Happy Christmas. Lastly, Filch agreed to clean the entire castle only because he was too exited after he received a small kitty that morning. Everybody looked surprised that the grumpy old goat cared for something in his life.

After a copious meal, making sure to stay far away from the Slytherins that gave a toxic smell, James headed of to visit Remus. Though it took much persuasion, and a lot of pleading, Madam Pomfrey, accepted and let James in.

Remus was sitting in his bead reading the book James gave him. Grinning, he walked over to him and said hello.

"Hey James," Remus greeted "Happy Christmas!"

"Happy Christmas Remus!" James replied.

"Thanks for the book by the way. It's interesting." Remus smiled.

"No problem. Thank you for the quills."

Remus turned grave "Er…I'm sorry! I didn't have much time and I…"

James interrupted him laughing "No, really, thank you! I wouldn't have replaced my old ones until after the school year ended. This saved me time and a lot of frustration."

Remus smiled "Well, if it keeps you happy."

James shrugged "It does. Slughorn usually forgave me for not doing his essays when I handed him a paper completely covered in ink. I'll just have to figure out another way!"

Remus laughed "You don't honestly think he would have bought that much more."

James grinned "Really, Lupin, you don't know me much do you?"

"Yeah, after you start with "Oh professor, I wanted to but I remembered my torment and it was just to hard!" he'll even give you a hundred points just to shut you off." James gave a small smile and Remus realized he said something stupid "Sorry!" he apologized

James ran his hand through his hair "No harm done! It's not your fault. And I don't really feel the need to talk about it."

Remus nodded "Yeah, I know how you feel."

They stayed there for a while in complete silence playing with their thumbs.

"What'd you get?" James suddenly asked.

Remus looked confused for a second before realizing what James meant "Oh. Well, your book, some sweets and a scarf from my mother, and a batch of new potion supplies from my father."

James looked surprised and confused. That was all? Did that mean James was his only friend and the closest thing he got after his parents? That couldn't be right!

"What about you? Remus asked.

"Er…" James was quickly searching for a way to tell Remus without breaking his heart, something that the boy understood.

"It's okay," Remus assured James "I live away from most children. My parents liked the forest so we moved there and I don't have many friends." He shrugged "It doesn't bother me. Besides, isn't everybody saying Christmas is about giving and sharing and not about receiving?"

"Right." James said though still unsure. He then told Remus about what his parents had given him. He also explained that somehow Dumbledore got James to practice Quidditch with the house team. Remus congratulated James and each started telling stories of previous Christmases, mostly James.

"Each year they give a giant party in my house inviting almost half of the wizarding population. They don't care if they're dark wizards or muggle-borns. Everybody they know is invited."

"Wow! Did they have one this year?"

James shook his head "My father suffered a stroke this summer. I guess the old age is finally getting to him. I had to go the Hogwarts express on my own. I nearly missed it."

"I'm sorry." Remus said.

James shrugged "It's not your fault you know! He's ok now! But their personal healer told him to stay away from parties."

"Personal healer?" Remus asked awed "But those cost like a fortune!"

James felt like somebody turned the heat in the room and he felt suffocated "Er…well, my parents have done their share of work for the world so the ministry rewarded them."

"What kind of work?" Remus asked.

"Er…I can't say that. It's…private."

Remus stared surprised at James "Ok. So…how are things with Corinne?"

James rolled his eyes "I swear Remus, if I didn't know better I'd say you have a bigger crush on her than I do."

"I'm just curios mate!" Remus explained.

"Sure you are! Do you still have that wizard's chess? I feel like beating you." James declared.

Remus grinned "Oh do you?"

They played three matches out of which James won one and another was a tie. James left after Pomfrey threatened to drag him out by his robes. They agreed to finish the game after Remus got better.

The day flew by for James. There was a party everywhere he turned. Slughorn invited all his favorite students into his office; the Great Hall had its own celebration but only for students for fifth year and up and the Prewett brothers brought about ten boxes of butterbeer and one of firewhiskey. Unfortunately, one of the Prefects was there and didn't let James take a swing of firewhiskey. He cursed under his breath when he saw Black and Pettigrew sneak away with a bottle while she was scolding him.

On the 27th, James had another meeting with Dumbledore. He entirely forgot to practice so his headmaster got full access into his head. They agreed to meet the next day but that only made James feel weaker than he was before. On the 28th, James finally succeeded to hang on his broom for five minutes but then Dumbledore threw him off and James fainted.

He couldn't find Shacklebolt anywhere so he assumed that he left for the holidays and decided to talk to him when he got back. Meanwhile, the weather was getting worse Dumbledore restricted going outside.

Most of the break, James spent in his dorm and common room with Remus and sometimes Sirius and Peter. The four agreed to make a truce until school started back. Sirius explained that Christmas was his favorite time of the year and he wasn't going to let anybody ruin it for him. James observed that while before Sirius kept insisting to go talk to Slytherins and tried to keep his old habits; now more and more Sirius avoided them and sometimes pranked them. His favorite victim was Snape. Black sent multiple cleaning charms on his head once and when asked why he said he was simply doing him a favor by cleaning his greasy hair. Making his own inspection, James agreed that the boy needed to wash his hair more often.

The New Year's party was spectacular. The staff planted fireworks all over the castle. The curfew was lifted so all students got access to the school all night. Dumbledore levitated a large countdown timer in the Great Hall. When the timer reached zero, the clock disappeared and the ground began to shake. Suddenly, the halls erupted into fireworks. The castle from outside looked like the center of a fountain and fireworks came out of it like flowing water. Somehow, some fireworks were redirected from their path and started chasing Snape all around the castle. Only after two hours the staff managed to save him.

On the first of January it finally happened. James woke up in the middle of the afternoon. Remus, Sirius and Peter were also sleeping. He pushed, or more likely shoved, Remus to wake him up. Both of them had bags under their eyes from sleeping and smiled at each other. They silently changed their clothes careful not to wake Black and Pettigrew. Not because they cared for the pair but neither wanted to deal with them so early on the first day of the year.

The common room, as well as the castle, was awfully quiet. On their way to the Great Hall they didn't cross anyone. Entering, half of the students that remained at Hogwarts, probably all the ones that woke up, were picking their meal not interested in eating. They wore sullen faces and some were actually crying. They approached their table. Strangely, there weren't any Slytherins there. '_They're sleeping_.' James thought. Remus pointed at an empty space at the table and James nodded.

Somehow, he didn't have the courage to ask what happened. He just joined in the mood and stared at his plate. From time to time he glanced at the staff table. Half of them didn't come yet which was strange. Usually, Either McGonagall or Dumbledore was there to supervise the students in case they misbehaved. Neither of them was there now. The seat at the middle of the table was occupied by Slughorn who looked graver than James ever saw him. Hagrid was busy taking the decorations down so his back was turned to James. Sprout and some woman James didn't recognize were whispering to each other.

After half an hour Black and Pettigrew entered. They looked cheerful and Sirius blinked a few times before realizing something had happened. He shot Peter a puzzled look and Peter shrugged. They saw James and Remus and approached them, sitting across them.

"What happened?" Sirius asked lightheaded.

"Don't know!" James responded not looking up from his food.

"Why are people mopping around and crying. It's the first day of the year for crying out loud!"

"I don't know!" James repeated gripping his teeth.

Sirius looked at him exasperated "Well, you're no help!" he said rising from his seat.

"Where are you going?" Peter asked but Sirius ignored him.

He walked to a kid and whispered something to him. The kid nodded and handed him a newspaper.

James rolled his eyes when he came victoriously back. Ignoring Remus's protests, he grabbed "The Daily Prophet" from a second year sitting next to him. He gasped when he read the title and he heard a similar reaction from Sirius. Curiosity getting to them, Remus and Peter leaned next to their respective partners and read as well.

THE DARK LORD STRIKES

Mass killing of Muggles (see page 7)

Unforgivables performed (see page 8)

Dark mark in the sky (see page 9)

Flipping quickly through the pages, James realized for the first time what the man was capable of. Though he had been a constant threat for the past year and a half, he always considered Voldemort to be a petty serial killer which would be caught straight away. As a kid he was always led to believe that good always triumphed and the innocents would be saved. Now, as he spotted the photo of the village in flames, he started to fear him for the first real time.

_Mass killing of muggles _

_On the night of the thirty first of December, while muggles were celebrating the passage to the New Year, the Dark Lord's followers Apparated in the middle of the streets. Muggle witnesses declared that they pulled their wands from their robe and one of them, who seemed to lead them, shot a green spell at a muggle (more details on page 8). Then all of them started hexing random people on the street. Mr. Lawrence, the muggle forester, heard while hiding behind the trees that the leader of the supporters kept shouting at them to stop playing and finish the job. They were many screams of pain large puddles of blood were found when the Aurors appeared this morning. Mr. Lawrence continued saying that after two hours of this massacre, they blew the mayor's door open and subjected him to what seemed like horrible pain. At about three a.m., they shot the dark mark in the sky and finally began leaving, keeping the bodies with them. It's assumed that a total of one hundred muggles died. Who knows what other horrible plans this criminal has? _

James shuddered as he read the article and looked at Sirius to see his reaction. He was mumbling something. Reading his lips, James understood that Sirius was saying _'Death Eaters'_ and James nodded. When Black told him that Voldemort was planning something, he knew he should brace himself. However, he didn't expect an attack of such magnitude, the murder of one hundred people.

The other articles were less important. They were mostly filled with theories. Page 8 was all about the unforgivable curses. The introduction explained what they were and their effects. Different ministry employees stated their belief that the Avada Kedavra was used as well as the Cruciatus curse. There was no evidence of the Imperius curse but the possibility wasn't excluded.

Page 9 was more pointless than the last. Experts in cryptology and ancient magic tried unsuccessfully to explain what the sign meant. Even muggle experts were called before their memories were changed. Many of them claimed that the skull was the sign of a killer who was presumed dead so it was Voldemort's way of saying that he was alive and kicking. The snake represented Slytherin and that brought many idiotic ideas. Most of them thought that the dark lord was actually Slytherin reincarnated. Others believed that it was a setup by some hateful Gryffindor supporters. Either way, the reporter tried to assure that the Dark Lord would be caught and sentenced to death by the Veil.

At the end of reading, James's face was as white as sheet. Remus's face showed a whole new meaning of pale and James wondered for a second if the boy was breathing anymore. Across them, Sirius and Peter were yellow, neither having to worry since they were "purer" then most of the wizard community. Remus was a half-blood and since James's family were openly declared that they cared for muggles, they were thought as blood traitors.

They all sat in silence for the rest of the meal. Remus hardly ate after reading the article and after a while he excused himself and ran out. Sirius and Peter ate with their usual appetite and James felt sick.

"Th's 'sn't over y'know" Sirius said after a while through mouthfuls of food.

"Why do you say that?" James asked surprising himself that he understood.

Sirius made an attempt to swallow his food but he managed to choke himself. Peter patted him in the back and Sirius drank almost a full goblet of pumpkin juice. "Because, they didn't make a statement. If they wanted so much to declare to the world that they were Death Eaters they would have said it or write it on the sky. They just killed and disappeared! He didn't even kill a wizard. He's planning something bigger I know it."

Surprised, James nodded. Why did Black care so much for the future of muggles? Was he concerned? But he was a Black! With an uneasy feeling, James decided that Sirius was probably just fascinated by the man.

James finished and walked out of the hall. All students were frozen in their seats. _'They're scared to walk in the halls'_ James thought. He knew he was right. Most students of Hogwarts were half-blood or muggleborn. Pure bloods were so much rarer as the time passed. The frightened students had one or more muggle relatives.

It wasn't until January the third that the usual merriment of Hogwarts returned to normal. No student's family was hurt or killed. The incident was shoved off but an imprint still remained. It became general knowledge that the Dark Lord's name was Voldemort but there still wasn't a word about the change of his follower's name. It was kept more secret than James realized.

The students that went home started coming back to school. As they entered the Great Hall that morning, there was a mixture of worry and happiness to see their friends on their faces. Lily entered the hall and hugged everybody she knew. She even came to James and wrapped her arms around him saying that he was forgiven for everything he said. Finally friends again, the two enjoyed the meal together with Remus.

"You don't know how happy I am to be a witch!" she squeaked. "If they come to my home I can protect my parents and sister."

James wanted to ask if she thought that a few sparks could drive killers away but he bit his lip. Looking at Remus, he saw that the boy had a similar reaction.

"Was there anyone from your family killed?" James bluntly asked earning a kick on the foot from Remus.

Lily nodded "Yeah, a distant cousin of my mother's. The village wasn't so far away from my town you know. It could have been me." She stopped and sighed.

"Sorry for your loss." Remus lamented.

"I didn't know him very well. He seemed like a nice guy though. He was a priest."

James raised his eyebrow and wanted to ask Lily what a priest was but at that moment Corinne came through the door. They each caught each other's eye and shared a look before James looked away. After a while he looked at her and she seemed sad. He gritted his teeth and looked at Sirius who was at the other end of the table having a little food fight with Peter. He looked at Remus and realized that the boy was getting pale again. What was wrong with him anyway? Lily was telling stories about her Christmas and James was partly listening.

"My sister shrieked when I told her that dragons still exist. I think part of her still doesn't realize that magic DOES exist." She said.

James slowly nodded and searched for Corinne at the Ravenclaw table. She and Ludovic Palmer seemed to be having a pleasant conversation and he had a stupid smirk plastered on his face. James at that moment felt the urge to wipe it off. He focused back at Lily but still took glances from time to time at their table. Half an hour later, Ludovic began scratching his head and stood up abruptly and ran out of the hall. He grinned and looked at Remus but the boy was oblivious to everything. He looked around the Hall but none had their wands raised.

"What is it?" Lily asked seeing the grin on James's face.

He shrugged "It's good to talk to you again."

She raised her eyebrow unconvinced but said nothing.

"Well, I'm done." Remus muttered.

James nodded and stood up. They said goodbye to Lily and walked to their common room.

"Potter!" a voice called.

James turned around and saw a black kid from fifth year he recognized as Kingsley Shacklebolt running towards him.

"Hey" James greeted.

"I just heard the news." Kingsley said "McGonagall told me. I hear you want to participate in the Quidditch practices."

James nodded.

"Great!" he exclaimed "You're in. Practices are at six every Friday and Sunday. Be there!"

"Sure" James said and turned away and continues walking.

"Nervous?" Remus asked.

James shrugged "Not really. I don't want to brag but I'm excellent at flying. And if I don't do well it doesn't matter because I'm not on the team yet."

"Yet!" Remus repeated "I don't know. Slytherin beat us pretty good in the first match. You should consider begging Dumbledore to change the rules if you think you're such a good flyer."

James ran his hand through his hair "Neah, too much of an obligation. I want to see first how it goes before I make a fool of myself."

"What are you going to do with Lily?" Remus suddenly asked.

James looked at Remus surprised "What?"

"You didn't seem so eager to be friends with her a few months ago. Did you change your mind?"

"I…" he thought hard if he looked at her differently "I don't know. I guess I'll just see. She's a good person after all."

"And Corinne?" Remus asked

James scowled "You ask too many questions."

"You answer too few." Remus replied.

James grinned "I'll see how it goes ok?"

Remus shrugged "Your choice."

"What about you?"

"What about me?" Remus asked puzzled.

"Did a lady catch your eye?" James teased

"Yeah. I think Black's mother is cute don't you think?"

James stared at Remus not realizing he was joking.

"It was a joke!" Remus exclaimed horrified.

James smiled "Better not let Black know about your infatuation with his mother."

Remus rolled his eyes "Honestly!" he muttered finally arriving at the portrait.


	12. Quidditch practice

_Disclaimer: Strangely I don't imagine myself as a multi millionaire woman._

_Hello there! School sucks! Life has been busy as I have my own James and Lily story I'm living right now. I hope it ends better for me…_

_This year I have exams that teachers have been preparing us for four years. I myself don't know what the big deal is as I have good grades on most of the subjects but my mom thinks I need to take them more seriously. My class schedule is at the same time my mom is at work (she's a teacher herself) so I won't have much free time. And that to a life and…If only I were at Hogwarts… My point is that updates will be twice a week from now unless a miracle happens. Don't say I didn't warn you!_

_Sorry if you're not a Quidditch fan. I just don't read enough stories with Quidditch action and since I've started the story I've been dieing to make a Quidditch chapter. I hope sport fans will like it._

**Chapter twelve: Quidditch practice**

"I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS!" Sirius yelled as he ran past the first year Gryffindors, Friday morning. James and Remus were muttering curses under their breaths as well, and the whole group was fuming.

"Five pages on the dangers of Billywigs?" James moaned "Third years have less homework than we have!"

"Add that to thirty inches of parchment on the sound of a Jubberknoll!" Remus replied gritting his teeth.

James looked at Remus "Sorry mate. I pity you. He gave it to you only because you yawned."

"He's got it in for me!" Remus concluded.

James nodded "And it's pretty bad."

Remus groaned "You're no help!"

James sniggered and the duo continued to walk towards their new class in silence.

Ever since the Voldemort attack on those muggles, their defense against the dark arts professor had been very moody. Sometimes he could be seen wearing a large smile on his face and at other times he would dock fifty points because a student looked "up to something". The only thing that hadn't changed was his hatred towards Remus and the boy couldn't pretend anymore that it was just an act. The man clearly hated Remus for reasons both of them knew.

Lunch was quiet on the Gryffindor side of the table. By now, word had spread that James would be participating in the Quidditch practice. Gossipers also included that James had black-mailed Dumbledore with photos of him in a pool to get acceptance.

James, although he seemed confident and optimist at the beginning of the week; was staring at his food clearly refusing to eat a bite. He confessed to Remus that he was afraid that the broom couldn't handle his weight.

"If you were skinnier, the wind would pick you up while you were on your broom." Remus argued.

Lily who was also sitting with them looked up and gave James an assuring smile "I'm sure you'll do well!" she said.

"We'll come watch you if you want." Remus offered.

"NO!" James looked horrified "It's better if no one is looking."

Remus rolled his eyes "Come on, you told me you do this all the time."

"But that was silly Quidditch. We didn't even play by the rules. We threw rocks at each other instead of bludgers."

Lily looked between the two of them "Huh?"

"What?"

"What's a bludger?" Lily asked.

James looked stupefied "You don't know what a bludger is?"

Lily shook her head "I didn't come to the first match because I thought Quidditch is a fancy word for football on a broom."

It was James's turn to look stupid "Huh?"

Remus chuckled "Football is a muggle game. It's played with feet and there aren't any bludgers, snitches or brooms." he explained

"So where's the fun in that?" James asked.

Remus shrugged "I don't know. My mother didn't want me to play either of the games. She thinks it's too dangerous."

"So how is Quidditch played?" Lily asked.

A small grin appeared on James's face and he ran ruffled his hair boyishly. "It's the best! There's a quaffle and three chasers who pass it one to each other. The have to score it through the other team's hoops but they're watched by the keepers whose job is to prevent that from happening. While the chasers do this, there are two beaters who have to whack bludgers at the players to get them out of the game or at the least make them loose their concentration"

Lily shuddered hearing this. While football was dangerous sometimes it certainly didn't have cannonballs out to eliminate the players.

"The last player is the seeker. His job is to catch a very small golden flying ball ending the game and earning the equivalent of fifteen goals for his team. His job is very dangerous because most of the time the entire fate of the game hangs on him so most bludger hits are directed at him."

Lily had a look of pity on her face. She decided that sports were too dangerous for her liking. She didn't even know how to fly for that matter.

James arrived at the Quidditch pitch earlier than he should have. He flew around the pitch for a while feeling the wind touch his face and the amazing feeling of independence running through his body.

His father trained him to fly as a little kid. He heard a story once that he nicked a broom once when he was two and flew around the house on it breaking everything in sight. Though his parents were upset, the amazement that a two year old could hold on to a broom got his forgiveness. Later, when he turned four and became able to understand the people around him, his father had a talk to him and took him flying. First he put James in front of him and while he flew he instructed James what to do. Later, he let James take over the handle and finally, at five years old, he received his first broom and he got the permission to fly without his father guarding him.

James landed his broom on the ground in time to see some people approaching him. His nervousness returned and he felt his heart freeze as he began jittering from the cold. The seven people finally came into view and James recognized the stature of Kingsley in the middle of them. He clutched his broom harder when they looked at him, all wearing smiles. Kingsley was wearing his Quidditch Captain badge that shone bright.

"I see you're here early!" Kingsley said "I just had a talk with the team in the locker room and told them. They didn't sound too convinced you'd be worth the effort" he looked at a tall boy who was sneering at James.

"We have all the people we need. Any extra will bring the team down. Especially a first year!" the boy said.

"That's enough Dawlish!" another boy interrupted. He also had disbelief in his face but at least it wasn't annoyance.

"James is a nice bloke. If you mess with him, you mess with us!" Fabian Prewett added and Gideon, who was beside him nodded.

"All right!" Kingsley said putting a stop to the argument "We'll see soon enough what James can do." He turned to James "I see you already know Fabian and Gideon. This," he pointed at the tall boy "is Michael Dawlish. He's always moody but an excellent Keeper."

Dawlish nodded at James and turned his gaze towards the hoops.

"This is Edgar Bones, he's one of the most brilliant chasers I ever met!"

Bones smiled "I believe you'll be the one to take over after I leave. This is my last year. I hope you'll do an even better job than I did. Kingsley sure told us a lot about you." He shook James's hand

"And here are the rookies" Kingsley said pointing at the last two members. "Frank Longbottom, our seeker and Sturgis Podmore, the third chaser after me."

The one who first took James's defense against Dawlish; Frank, gave a small smile while Podmore was grinning from ear to ear.

"So Edgar leaves next year and he's a chaser. While you look like a seeker, I'm afraid you would have to wait another three years to get that position." Kingsley spoke.

James shrugged "I didn't even want to play seeker in the first place. My eyesight is poor." He pointed at his glasses "Chaser's good for me."

"All right. Now that that's settled, practice can start." Kingsley took an imposing look as if daring anyone to question his abilities as captain "We're eight. Split in two groups, four and four."

Kingsley put his hand on James's shoulder as the Prewett twins, the only other ones who entirely supported James came. The other group was formed by Dawlish, Longbottom, Bones and Podmore.

"Fabian, you're going to be our keeper and Dawlish you'll be keeper for your team. The rest of us play chasers." Then he added in a whisper to James, "We're slightly disadvantaged. Give them all you can!"

James kicked the broom on the ground and soared in the air. His nervousness was slightly less profound now. Kingsley threw the ball in the air and Bones quickly grabbed it. He passed it to Podmore who shakily caught it before it fell. James gained on him and he spotted Kingsley not too far behind him. Podmore, sensing the danger, passed it to Longbottom but Gideon intercepted it and passed it to Kingsley. Kingsley began moving the other direction and the five followed him. Bones was hot on his trail so he passed it to James. James who was not expecting it and let it fall without catching it. Gideon caught it at the last second before Podmore got to it and passed it to James who caught it this time.

He grabbed tight on the ball and maneuvered the broom with his free hand. Halfway to the hoops, he felt the ball slip away and saw Bones winking at him and going the other way, quaffle in hand. James accelerated his broom and took the quaffle while Bones still had it unprotected. He saw Bones looking slightly surprised out of the corner of his eye as he passed it to Kingsley who caught it without much effort. Kingsley got near Dawlish and prepared to shoot. Dawlish however guessed which hoop Kingsley was going to shoot and caught it. He passed it to Longbottom who turned towards the other side of the pitch. He passed it to Bones, Bones to Podmore, Podmore to Bones and Edgar made a spectacular goal at the center hoop.

"Shit!" James heard Kingsley swear.

Fabian gave the ball to Kingsley who took off accelerating immediately. James found it hard to fallow but so were the other four. Kingsley made a back-pass at Gideon at the other side that shot it at the left hoop. Unfortunately, Dawlish caught it again and shared a look with Longbottom. Inspired, James leaped off as Dawlish made the pass. He took hold of the quaffle and turned and shot it the right hoop. Dawlish, taken by surprise didn't defend it this time and James scored.

"Great job!" James heard Bones congratulating him. Kingsley and Gideon were wearing broad smiles and Longbottom and Dawlish looked gob-smacked.

"Right!" Kingsley said making a gesture at Fabian to come "I think we all saw what James is capable of." He looked at Dawlish "As this is his first practice, I can say he's done much better than some of you did."

"Damn right he did!" Bones spoke grinning "I didn't even see him when he tackled me. I guess this is a minus point towards my bragging."

"You were brilliant James!" Fabian said when he was close enough "I watched you from the other end of the pitch. Last year's chaser could barely grab the ball at all. We used him on defense and put him to jump in front of any player that came."

"Thank god that git left." Kingsley said nodding. "Our former captain wasn't in his complete mind. Took to many bludger hits I assume"

All the group's eyes turned to Gideon who put an innocent face. "I swear it was a mistake! It doesn't have anything to do with the twenty galleons he owned me."

"There were twenty five actually!" Fabian added before getting smacked in the head by his brother muttering something about traitors.

"All right you lot, finish this argument so we can continue practice." Kingsley said "Dawlish change places with Longbottom. Gideon you are the other keeper. James, Edgar and Fabian you go with him. I stay with Podmore and Dawlish. Split up and we'll meet you at the center."

Bones nodded and took off with James and the Prewetts behind him. Gideon left for the goal hoops.

"James, are you familiar with the Secret Third Chaser move?" Edgar asked him.

James shook his head having never heard of it.

"Ok, Fabian and I will pass the ball from one another. You stay below us and under no circumstances will you rise up. We're going to distract them and when they corner us, one of us will let the ball fall and you'll come and catch it. Then you'll fly at Frank and score. The kid is spiritual but not much of a keeper."

The other team arrived and Kingsley threw the ball in the air. James wanted to get it but remained still at the last moment. Kingsley saw this and raised his eyebrow. Dawlish caught the ball and left towards Gideon. Bones tackled him and passed the ball to Fabian. Fabian passed it back from under his sleeve. James continued to stay hidden. The duo passed from one another several times. They began making combos finding it more difficult to keep hold of the ball. Dawlish and Podmore were very good players and showed no sign of exhaustion. Kingsley disappeared from James's line of sight and he wondered what he gone of too. Reaching Frank's post, Fabian gave the quaffle to Bones who sent it down while it was still in the air. James turned towards the direction but he saw Kingsley grinning at him holding the ball.

"I saw you hesitate to get the ball when we started. I soon found out why!"

He lazily passed it to Dawlish who caught it and sped of to Gideon. Bones made several attempts of tackling and James tried to intercept it once but at the end Kingsley made a fabulous goal through the center hoop.

After one hour, James had managed to score two goals. Both Kingsley and Fabian had three and Bones had five. The rest scored only one goal. Kingsley then approached them and said they could begin simple passing as the team was worn. However, as passing became boring, they charmed the ball to sprout water every two minutes at the one who caught it. Sturgis Podmore was the first victim, James and Gideon followed. Except for the two star chasers, everybody returned soaking in the castle.

It was already night and James realized he was way past his curfew. The other students had extended permission but he as a first year was expected back earlier. None on them seemed to realize this so they paid no attention.

James quickly changed back into his robes. The weather was chilly and he was freezing having cold water all over him. Kingsley performed a drying spell but he still had goose bumps. They walked into the great hall giving their goodbye to James. James realized with glee that now he had Bones and Sturgis on his side. Only Dawlish and Longbottom remained. Dawlish kept stubbornly reminding him that he was wasting time as he wouldn't play Quidditch at least until next year.

He walked to the fourth floor and took a glance at the closed mirror. He didn't realize he lost contact with the real world until he heard professor Dolohov's angry voice.

"A Gryffindor first year student out of bounds? Potter, detention for you tomorrow at eight in my office. Also Gryffindor looses twenty points because of you!"

James turned his head around so quickly he was afraid he snapped a vein.

"I was at the Quidditch pitch!" he explained.

"I don't care Potter. Curfew is still curfew. Return to your room unless you want Gryffindor to loose anymore points."

James nodded and returned to his dorm. Lily and Remus immediately rushed to him and asked him a whole lot of questions. James tried to answer as good as possible though by the end he told them he marked ten goals and the team wanted to make him captain. Neither of them looked convinced but congratulated him all the same for a good first day beginning. Remus returned to his paper for defense against the dark arts class. Lily mumbled an apology and went up the stairs to do her transfiguration homework. James went up the stairs and saw Sirius putting plain dark robes on. Peter was there as well.

"…it's tonight I tell you." Black tried to convince Peter. "What will we loose if we get caught? We'll say we wanted to join them."

Peter snorted "We'll tell them before or after they Crucio us?" he looked at the door and saw James there. He widened his eyes and put his hands on his mouth as if trying to choke his words back in.

Sirius observed Peter's gesture and stared confused. James let a small cough and Sirius turned and looked at him.

"Hey it's the new Quidditch royalty. I always wondered what bludgers taste like. Could you be kind to give me an explanation Potter?" Sirius taunted.

"Why don't you smell your own breath and just imagine the flavor." James retorted.

Sirius raised his eyebrow "I don't have bad breath!"

James shrugged "Of course you don't."

Sirius frowned and returned to changing his clothes.

"Going somewhere?" James asked.

"Huh? Oh yeah, I overheard Lucius talking to some big fat kid from Slytherin today about some meeting." Sirius explained.

"And?"

Sirius sighted "You really are thick Potter! Didn't you tell me Voldemort is recruiting from the castle?"

James slapped his forehead "Oh right! So you think tonight they'll meet?"

Sirius nodded as Peter sighed and began changing.

"You shouldn't go." James said suddenly.

Peter's face turned into a smile and looked hopefully at Sirius who looked confused.

"Why?" he asked.

"Dumbledore told me that he'll take care of it. There's nothing we can do at this point. We have to sit around and play with our toys!" James explained annoyed at his headmaster.

"Dumbledore's right!" Peter said.

James glared at Peter "I wanted to say that I'm not going to stay back while Dumbledore has all the fun. I showed you the way to the passage. I'm coming with you."

Sirius looked at James and nodded.

"But Dumbledore got rid of Grindelwald. He knows what he's doing!"

Sirius sighed "That happened long ago. Dumbledore is weaker with each day."

"One fact of the war with Grindelwald was that before he became a dark lord he was a petty thief. Dumbledore worked at the time as a part-time Auror. He caught Grindelwald but he let him go thinking that he deserved a second chance. But because of him almost a hundred people didn't get a second chance." James said.

Sirius had his mouth opened and closed it. He opened it again and looked at James suspiciously "That's right Peter. Some of the victims came from a long line of wizards."

Peter sighed and pulled over his robe. James hastily took some clothes from his trunk and changed. He had a mission to do. If Dumbledore wanted to stay and wait, he would wait alone. He was fed up with his nightmares and capturing Death Eater trainees was the first step to a much peaceful life. He only hoped Dumbledore wouldn't cancel his Occlumency lessons if he found out. He only had one session since school started and Dumbledore told him to wait several weeks until they would meet again.

By the time James opened his curtains, Black and Pettigrew were already looking impatiently at him. They both wore black robes but James chose a more mugglish outfit. He had a dark blue sweater and black jeans.

"How are we going out?" Peter asked hoping for a last chance.

Sirius shrugged and opened the door. He took a box from under his bed and took out two dungbombs. He walked out and several seconds later returned running in the room shutting it behind him. Screams were heard in the entire tower as the dungbombs exploded. Footsteps ascended and dorm rooms were closed. Remus burst in the room red in the face. He took a look at the three of them and raised his eyebrow.

"I should have known!" He muttered towards Sirius.

Sirius grinned "No hard feeling eh, Lupin?"

"What are you planning?" Remus asked James.

"There's a dark wizard conference. We're going to it."

"I'm surprised James, I never took you for a dark wizard."

"We're spying on it!" James explained "Please we don't have much time. I'll explain better tomorrow."

Remus reluctantly nodded.

"C'mon Potter!" Sirius growled.

"Bye!" James said as the trio exited the room.

They descended the stairs and James felt like suffocating. The smell was terrible. It felt like he actually had dung in his mouth and chewed on it. "There goes two of my best dungbombs." Sirius muttered sadly "I kept them since I was five. I think they had a side affect."

"You think?" James sarcastically asked pulling his sweater over his nose.

Sirius put a hand over his nose "Let's get out of here. The faster we get out the less infected our clothes will be."

James let a swear escape his lips hearing this news. He ran out followed by Pettigrew and Black.

"What is that smell?" the fat lady asked them as they got out.

"You smell it too?" Sirius incredulously asked. "But you're a portrait! Blimey, I wonder what would happen if I had kept them another six years."

He was however interrupted in his ramblings as James pulled him away. The fat lady asked them where they were going but received no answer.

They walked in silence through the halls not bumping into anyone. The seventh year's curfew was by now over so they were mostly alone in the castle. They made sure not to bump into Malfoy or any Prefect. They didn't have to worry about Filch as he was probably busy feeding his cat. They arrived at the fifth floor corridor. James led them to the secret door and opened it.

"Won't they try to open it before having their meeting?" Peter asked obviously scared.

"Don't worry Pettigrew. Unless they know from someone there's a door there, you've got nothing to worry about. You need to know about it to open it. And besides, if we leave one door open, the other stays shut. Just be quiet."

Sirius and Peter nodded and followed James down. As they reached the bottom they listened but no sound was coming.

"What's wrong with the door?" Sirius demanded to know.

"They aren't here!" James muttered, fear starting to come to him.

"Don't be ridiculous! Course they're here! He heard them!"

"What if it's a trap?" Peter asked feeling James's fears.

"We're safe here! Right Potter?"

"They might have overheard us or seen us when we came here. The perfect trap!" James realized.

"Shh!" Peter interrupted pointing at the door. Sounds of footsteps were heard and James exhaled breath he didn't know he kept.

"What are they saying?" Sirius annoyingly asked when voices started coming from the other side.

"They can still hear you, you know. Shut up!" James whispered.

Sirius opened his mouth to retort but closed it and pressed his ear at the door. Peter stood motionless in the stairway looking unbelievingly at the both of them.

"When is he coming?" a voice was heard through the door.

"Patience. He'll come when he sees it fit." Lucius Malfoy said.

"This is boring!" the same voice said again.

"Malfoy, why did you bring this buffoon here? He's not trustworthy! He could be a spy." Another voice said.

"He's not smart enough." Malfoy explained.

"He'll say things without thinking!" the voice tried again.

"He'll be on a need to know position. This is just recruiting! The dark lord wants us to finish education so we can advance into higher social positions. We are the sugar of the wizard community after all." Malfoy said.

"Indeed." A new older voice came, the one of the real death eater. "Who is this?" he asked in a demanding voice.

Lucius spoke "John Goyle. He wants to join."

"What will the dark lord have use from him?"

"He's powerful. He has massive force. He lifts three fifth years when he does push-ups. Surely the dark lord will need him."

"YOU DO NOT ASSUME WHAT THE DARK LORD WANTS! ONLY HE CAN MAKE DECISONS!"

"I'm sorry!" Malfoy quickly apologized.

James swallowed air. Every time he had seen Malfoy he had a huge smirk on his face and kept his nose up, a true pure blood maniac. As James heard him now, his voice was trembling and sobbing.

"Crucio!" a voice said and Malfoy's screams started echoing in the halls.

"Let this be a lesson to all of you. While you are in the service of the Dark Lord, you don't assume, you don't make decisions, you don't think!"

"I'm sorry!" Malfoy's whisper was heard.

"I know you are! You are a faithful servant Lucius. However next time I won't be this forgiving. If you were in front of the Dark Lord, he surely would have killed you on the spot."

Paces were heard and James understood the meeting had been canceled. However a silhouette still stood in the hallway moving back and forward. The three sat there frozen not daring to move an inch in fear that they would be heard. After all the students walked off the figure spoke a spell neither of them knew. Two minutes later another figure arrived running.

"What's going on? I heard screams." a stern voice belonging to a woman was heard.

"I'm afraid I got here too late myself." James realized the man's voice had changed.

"I don't like this! Not one bit! There's something going on in this school." the woman's voice said.

"I believe so too! Dumbledore should know about this!" the voice said.

"Let's go tell him now, professor!"

The two sets of feet walked off and James finally breathed normally again. Something was bothering him though and he saw on Sirius's and Peter's face they were thinking about the same thing.

Why had McGonagall called the Death Eater "professor"?


	13. The calm before the storm

_Disclaimer: I still don't own Harry Potter. I wish JKRowling would just give him to charity already!_

_Here's chapter thirteen. At first I wanted to post it on Friday the thirteenth of October but I found out I have a big test that day on the worst subject I have. Bloody wretched day…_

_I've never been superstitious but something strange is happening. This week four grandparents of my classmates died and one is in hospital. Friday is coming and I fear that something bad is going to happen in my life. I don't want to think about it but it's scaring me. In grief, broken friendships were mended between my classmates and my ex-best friend started talking to me again (though it will never be the same between us). I hope everything will be alright._

_This is mostly a filter chapter. In contradiction to my state, I tried to lighten the mood of the story and I had so much fun writing the last part. I hope more of you will review this time as it pleases me whenever I get an alert. I guess I have to be patient… I want to thank my beta for helping me and reviewing every chapter._

**Chapter thirteen: The calm before the storm**

"So what'd you think?" Sirius asked.

Nobody needed to ask what he was referring too. The three boys eventually returned back in their dorm uncaught by anybody. Nobody spoke on the way back and it wasn't because they wanted to avoid running into Filch.

As James returned, Remus gave a small cough to alert them that he was still awake. They shared a look and James moved towards Remus while Black and Pettigrew went to change clothes. James gave Remus a summary of what happened. He told him how the Death Eater performed one of the cruelest spells on Malfoy and how McGonagall called him professor. Remus stayed silent throughout the entire conversation looking at the ceiling in deep thought.

The other two boys returned after a while and Sirius asked his opinion.

"I don't know." Remus sighed "I don't understand why McGonagall would call him 'professor' and let him go just like that."

"There's got to be something we're missing!" growled James

"But McGonagall can't be a Death Eater!" Sirius muttered voicing everybody's fears "she's too good of a person."

"She's under the influence on Imperius!" Peter said "It makes sense!"

"No it doesn't." James said "None of it does."

"Why bother making that entire act to go to Dumbledore though?" Sirius said.

"Confunded?" Peter suggested.

Remus shook his head "The spell doesn't last long and when it's over the victim knows everything that happened while under the influence. So McGonagall would know what had happened."

James sighed "I can't believe this. She's deputy headmistress. She has Dumbledore's entire trust. And she's risking all that by becoming friends with a psychopath!"

"We should tell Dumbledore!" Remus said.

"That'll mean we're admitting to being in the castle after curfew. We'll be in loads of trouble!" Sirius said.

James frowned and shared a look with Remus. He sighed and turned towards Sirius and Peter "I already told Dumbledore about the first meeting. He said that he's in charge of everything. If he would have done anything, McGonagall would have known and checked for us. It's obvious that Dumbledore doesn't give a damn that Death Eaters roam in the castle recruiting students."

"You told him?" Sirius asked incredulous and frowned "When?"

"That's my business." James muttered.

Sirius crossed his arms "Can anybody in this bloody room say the whole truth for once?" He growled.

James shrugged "This way is funnier. Anyway the point is that we can't tell Dumbledore. Not yet!"

Remus stared at James "You're kidding right? What if something bad happens? What if innocent people loose their lives because you don't want detention?"

"It's not like that Lupin!" Sirius interrupted "Dumbledore always finds the good in people. He doesn't want to believe that some people are actually interested in killing muggles for the fun of it. Telling him would do nothing except maybe McGonagall finding out that we overheard her."

"But what if McGonagall isn't a Death Eater?" Peter said.

James rolled his eyes annoyed with the boy's insistence "What other option could there be?"

"Pettigrew is right, James." Remus said "I just can't believe it."

"The Death Eater's voice sounded familiar." Sirius said

James nodded. "First time I heard him there was something in his voice that gave me the feeling I've known the man. When he talked to McGonagall I was positive that I heard it before."

Remus groaned "Come on James, you and Black here each know half of the British wizarding population. Of course you heard it."

"I felt it too." Peter said "And I only know about a quarter of it."

"That helps a lot!" Remus said dryly.

"Look Remus, if you were there you'd agree. It's sitting on the edge of my tongue. I know we've all met him."

"A celebrity?" Remus suggested.

"Could be." Sirius said glaring intensively at the bed.

"I heard the Moaning Vampire's lead singer felt to join Voldemort." Peter said.

"Those are just rumors." Sirius clarified.

"How'd you know?" Peter asked.

"My parents went to one of their parties once. She invited them to a "social" meeting but they refused her offer at once. That year their popularity dropped vastly and they retired for a year before returning again."

James nodded "I remember that! I always wondered why nobody seemed to listen to them anymore. You suppose they accepted the offer when they came back?"

"Neah! Their music is still unaccepted in the house." Sirius explained.

"Right. Well, let's sleep on it and see what we come up with in the morning." Remus suggested yawning to prove his point.

However the next day they still didn't come up with any idea. Neither did they on the day after.

James's lessons with Dumbledore improved now that he was receiving real training on the broom. He could dodge Dumbledore's obstacles more easily and Dumbledore praised him on his work. Though from time to time James's mind weakened and James gave in to the prodding, half the time he could resist Dumbledore. He still didn't tell Dumbledore about the discussion between the Death Eater and McGonagall and every time he stored his memories of the secret, he would store the memories of that night also.

Though tiresome, James went to all Quidditch training Gryffindor had. After the first time, they played with bludgers and the snitch. James also tried playing beater and keeper but that was a definite no. As a keeper, most of the times he helped the balls go in by accidentally hitting them with the broom and as a beater he eliminated his fellow teammates. The only other possible position for James was seeker and he usually caught the snitch after twenty minutes making him the second best after Frank of course (Frank usually caught it after twelve without interferences from other players on the pitch). As a chaser, Kingsley said he was brilliant for a beginner and first year and told him that he most likely had the position secured for him next year when he'd be trying out. Even Dawlish accepted that James had a talent for the game.

Though James in his heart couldn't believe McGonagall could be in cohorts with killers, he noticed she was more and more agitated and upset while she was teaching. She would snap and dock points for the shortest whisper. She also had a habit to glare at students and Slytherins were the favorite victim.

About a week after the night, Remus disappeared one afternoon and returned a week later saying he got hexed with something and went to the hospital wing to recover. Madame Pomfrey wouldn't allow him visitors for he needed silence and rest.

"What did they do? Blow his whole body off?" Sirius muttered unpleased that they didn't catch Remus again in his disappearances.

Since the attack on the muggle village, Voldemort had been quiet. There wasn't even a mysterious random muggle killing anymore. It was a strategy James thought. After the attack, the wizard population was on its toes waiting for the next blow. No doubt the Aurors were just waiting for a sign to retaliate his forces. Voldemort's supporters although growing, were insufficient at the moment. Waiting, the population would slowly fall into blissful calm again and then he'll strike.

"The calm before the storm." James realized.

As February came, James still hadn't done any steps towards talking to Corinne. He supposed that she thought he was mad at her and gave him time. This made him the one who had to make the first step, much to his misery. He tried to talk to her a few times but something in his brain kept making excuses to delay. He wasn't even sure why he was avoiding her anymore. His dance lessons went smoothly now although Black found something to make fun of every time. He assumed he was just shy now that Corinne saw him upset after she danced with Sirius. It didn't take being an Unspeakable to put two and two together. Also lumps on his throat formed whenever he thought about her.

His friendship with Lily had improved a lot since the winter holiday. She forgot what James said about her in the potions class and focused on making as many friends as possible. James had to admit that she wasn't so annoying anymore. He was still careful what he said around her just to be on the safe side. Even she and Remus got along well after a few days. When she heard that his mother was sick, she let a few tears drop and hugged him and tried to encourage Remus that everything will be ok. He awkwardly nodded and patted her back sharing a look with James that clearly said "she's mental!"

The Slughorn club parties kept coming but James wasn't. He made excuses every time and was impressed by his ingenuity. He congratulated himself when Slughorn gave thirty points to Gryffindor because he was tutoring a third year in potions. He wasn't just avoiding Corinne anymore. Most of the club members were Slytherins and that meant future Death Eaters. James knew Slughorn although favored his house, he wouldn't invite any of those gits if he knew they planned to kill people.

James's friendship with Remus increased by the day, he found the boy likable and calm. Though Remus was very reserved, James couldn't blame him because he himself was keeping something from him. James also didn't want to push because he didn't feel like completing his promise to Black any time soon.

James noticed in Black's behavior a huge change since the first time they met. At first Black was Slytherin's perfect choice but then he got the howler, Voldemort made his first appearance, two of his cousins became Death Eater future spouses and, of course, he was sorted into Gryffindor. Sirius showed more and more signs of rebellion. He pranked random Slytherins (from fourth year down), his favorite victim being Snape. He had a special liking for the greasy boy's anger. However, instead of the usual laughter James saw in his eyes while he pranked usual Slytherins, pranking Snape brought fire in Sirius's eyes.

Another change was his fury every time he saw the Black owl. They were in February and his mother and occasionally his father still sent howlers to him. It was annoying him and James spotted once an advanced book of charms on his bed opened on the silencing charm. Sirius tried various methods to silence the howler from ripping it up to asking a seventh year to burn it or drown it. He went as far as swallowing it but when his stomach started screaming at him and then burned some bones so Sirius had to go to the hospital wing, he wasn't eager to try it again.

He still made fun of muggle-borns calling them by that horrible name and got in fights with James just to prove that he was still a Black. Nevertheless, Sirius slowly but surely was changing sides.

Peter, who was supportive of the Black cause, followed Sirius everywhere and agreed to everything Sirius said. He looked worse every day suggesting that he was starting to have doubts of his friendship with Sirius. James still didn't like Peter but had to accept that he'll be spending seven years in a dorm with him. He tried being friendly with him but Peter had a gift to make him annoyed every time they talked. He changed tactics from acting like a blundering idiot to a mean git. He only acted nice when it suited him.

As Valentines Day came, Remus began to pale again. James glanced a few times to Corinne, finding her glancing at him also. Each had their reasons for not talking and both of them were false.

"Just go talk to her!" Lily snapped when he made a sigh after looking at her back at the Ravenclaw table during lunch that day.

"I can't!" James moaned "It's too hard."

"It's too hard to say hello?" Lily asked raising an eyebrow.

"Well, I can't just walk there after four months of not talking acting like nothing happened."

"Sure you can! I doubt she'll ask any questions. She'll be too surprised!" Lily said filling her cup with orange juice.

James stared at her "Remus is right. She's mental!" He muttered.

"What was that?" Lily asked brightly.

"I said that's not my stile." James explained putting an innocent smile on his face.

Lily frowned "Oh. Well, it works for me." She smiled at him and returned her gaze to her plate.

James shook his head both amused and puzzled. How that girl's mind functioned was beyond his mental capabilities.

"I have to have an excuse to talk to her!"

Lily sighed "Well, go to the Slug parties once in a while. You'll be there to socialize. That a good enough reason!"

"I don't want to go." James said feeling sick in his stomach.

"Why?" Lily asked.

He hadn't told her yet about the midnight meetings. She was a muggle-born and knowing Death Eaters roamed in the castle wouldn't do well with her. They decided to keep the secret within the four of them. They knew all too well how gossip spread at Hogwarts.

"I don't like the Slug!" James mumbled and looked down.

Lily looked like she wanted to argue "Well, you'll miss the chocolate frogs."

"They'll be around in a few years. Plus I really want to see the cards more than eat."

At that moment Sirius burst in the doors like royalty wearing a small grin heading towards the Gryffindor table. He looked like he wanted to go to James but when he saw Evans next to him his grin faltered and walked past him.

"Git." Lily muttered shooting daggers at Sirius's back.

"Give him time, a year or two. He'll come around!" James assured "You're not as bad as people think."

Outraged Lily opened her mouth, and then closed it looking fuming towards James "Thanks." She said in a cold voice.

James shrugged convinced that he made a good compliment "I mean it!"

Lily rolled her eyes and tried to change the subject "I hear you have a Quidditch game tomorrow."

James nodded "Yeah, Gryffindor and Hufflepuff."

"Good luck."

"Thanks but I'm not playing. I'm not even on the team!" James said sighing.

"Then good luck to Gryffindor." She replied shrugging taking a bite of her toast.

James chuckled "Yeah. I hope they win this one. This is our last chance for the Quidditch cup."

"That bad?" Lily asked sympathetically.

"Yeah. The Slytherins made a real fool out of us last game. I don't get it! Our team is good. They just don't seem to put their act together."

"Let's just cross our fingers and hope for the best then."

James chuckled "You'd make a great Cannons fan." He said leaving Lily to look questioningly at him.

The day passed quickly for James and before he knew it he was sitting in the Quidditch stands with Remus and Lily waiting for the match to begin.

"I hope you guys are right and it's worth it. I don't want to see the look on Dolohov's face if I tell him I didn't do the paper because I went to a Quidditch match." Lily grumbled before a cough was heard.

"Welcome everybody to another wonderful game of Quidditch. I'm sure you all are exited to see who will win this terrible match!" a voice was heard. James snorted knowing full well that the outcome of the match was poorly awaited. Both teams were horrible by Hogwarts Cup standards. "I also like to thank my adorable fan club members for coming here to hear my voice."

"What?" Remus's head snapped upwards trying to make out who the commentator was. "Who is that guy?"

"The bloke's delirious!" James laughed. "You hear him? He thinks he's got a fan club!"

Lily looked grave and slowly shook her head "It can't be!" she whispered.

"Madam Hooch has entered the pitch! She is now opening the box picking up the quaffle. She's a gorgeous lady for her seventies and I would like to commend her for putting up with the horrible trauma of age."

"This is fun!" James chuckled while Lily kept shaking her head.

"And here comes the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Captain and chaser Kingsley Shaklebolt followed by fellow chasers Sturgis Podmore and Edgar Bones, next come beaters Fabian and Gideon Prewett, keeper Dawlish and finally Frank Longbottom. A wonderful team but they have one disadvantage. I'm not part of their team!" the voice chuckled earning groans from Gryffindor boy supporters.

"He's not even a Gryffindor!" James heard Lily mutter.

"The Hufflepuffs cheer as the Hufflepuff Quidditch team enters the pitch. We see keeper Hogg, chasers McMillan, Smith and Birdwell, beater Drywall and captain Fogg and finally seeker Marchbanks, a brilliant team. Unfortunately I had to refuse their offer of captaining their team as my job here is more important."

On the pitch James could see Richard Fogg making a rude hand gesture over to the commentator before Madame Hooch started scolding him.

"I see Richard hasn't gotten over that the team needs me more then they need him. I'm sorry old friend, but I hope there no hard feeling." The commentator spoke.

This time Fogg looked ready to go to him and punch his face but Hooch blew the whistle signaling the start of the match.

"The two captains shake hands in friendship and they get on their brooms. The teams take off in the air at the start of this fabulous Quidditch match."

"At least he's got high spirits." James mused looking at a very gloomy Lily.

"I say both teams are going to clubber him after the match." Remus said.

"Neah. Look at Fogg! He's going to hit a bludger at him by the middle of the match." James said.

"Bet you three sickles!"

"You're on!"

"And Madame Hooch releases the balls. I like to remind you all who don't have the same perfect memory as mine that catching the snitch brings one hundred and fifty points to the team who catches it and ends the match. Madame Hooch throws the quaffle and THE GAME BEGINS!"

"At least he got that part right." James said earning a small giggle from Lily.

"Birdwell takes the quaffle and passes it to Smith. Smith dodges Gryffindor chaser Bones, a perfect example of looping. He's no doubt one of my many fully trained Quidditch players."

Smith glared at the commentator giving Kingsley the chance to snatch the ball from his arms and pass it to Sturgis. A couple of swears were heard from the Hufflepuff supporters.

"I see the Hufflepuff supporters aren't displeased with the little mess up. I'm sorry Smith but I'm afraid you're still not up to Quidditch player standards even with my excellent tutorial!"

"They're going to kill him in his sleep!" Lily said looking pale.

"We see rookie chaser Podmore holding the ball dodging a bludger aimed to him by Drywell. He passes to Bones. He approaches the hoops. Looks like he's going for the right hoop."

Just as Hogg dived towards the right hoop, Edgar sent it in the middle as if mocking him.

"What an excellent bluff from chaser Bones! However his act was obvious for the trained eye. If I were keeper I would have blocked it! However, I had to pretend this time I didn't know anything of it. I can't risk changing the outcome of the game after all."

James could see Fogg yelling at his keeper holding his beater bat in a menacing position.

"Richard, leave the boy alone! It's not his fault he's just inexperienced."

At the Hufflepuff side, few supporters shifted in their seats shooting daggers towards the commentator's box.

"Hufflepuff is in possession of the quaffle. McMillan takes it and flies toward the Gryffindor hoops. He passes it to Smith. Smith to Birdwell. Back to McMillan. And Hufflepuff scores! It's a tie ladies and gentlemen. What a fascinating game!"

James saw Lily yawn next to him and frowned. It wasn't the best game but at least she could have been polite!

The game rolled on the same way. Several times, the commentator's words made the players unfocussed. Half an hour later, all the players were wearing grim expressions on their face and several times they got together and talked about what James could guess, unpleasant things. The commentator was just as jolly as when the game started unaware of what effect he brought to the game.

"Shacklebolt and Bones pass the ball to one another while the whole Hufflepuff team is on their tails. It seems everybody is forgetting poor Sturgis who is flying under them quietly."

The Hufflepuff chasers looked down and saw Podmore. They intercepted the quaffle as it was passed to him.

"The Hufflepuffs have the quaffle! Smith passes it to McMillan who passes it back. Smith throws it in the air as Birdwell comes and catches it and sending it at the Gryffindor left hoop. THEY SCORE! SEVENTY-FOURTY TO GRYFFINDOR!"

The Hufflepuff fans looked torn between cheering and groaning.

"I can't believe Dumbledore gave him permission to commentate" Lily screamed outraged after a long time of not saying anything.

"So you know the bloke?" James asked interested.

"Do I ever." Lily replied scornful.

"Friend of yours?" James cheekily said.

Lily huffed and returned to pay attention to the game.

"Oh look at that! Longbottom has spotted the snitch. Looks like Marchbanks is now on his tail." The voice said

"Thanks to him." James muttered.

"They are neck and neck. Marchbanks has a better broom but Longbottom is a better seeker. Who will win?"

"If it's Hufflepuff I'll feed this guy to the giant squid!" James stated.

"Fabian Prewett sends a bludger towards Marchbanks! She ducks in time. I'm sorry guys. Better luck next time. By the way send special greeting to your sister!"

It happened in a flash. Just as Frank's hand closed on the snitch, Gideon Prewett zoomed towards the nearest bludger and whacked it towards the commentator's box. One of the girls accompanying him pulled on his robe saving him from the blow. Madame Hooch went to Gideon to yell at him but the boy shrugged happy for his good deed.

The Gryffindor supporters took hold of Frank and threw him in the air with the rest of the team. Gryffindor had a good win finishing with two hundred and twenty to fifty (at the last minute Smith put the quaffle in the left hoop earning ten points.

The Gryffindor common room was the home of the biggest party Hogwarts had in a year that night. Everybody was laughing and cheering and telling funny stories. It seemed the Hufflepuffs were still resentful for the unnecessary comments. They hunted him all day but nobody ever found him. If asked, the Prewett brothers just smiled mysteriously and shrugged.

"Wow! So much celebrating for winning one game!" Lily said astonished.

"'t's not 'ny game girl, it's Quidsditch…Quirritch…oh hell…" Kingsley said passing her hold by his arm by a giggling girl.

"Is he drunk?" Lily asked outraged at his back.

James grinned "Either that or the bludger hit has affected his brain."

"I can't get any work done!" Remus said pointing at a stack of books on a table in the corner of the room. "I'm late with my assignment on Porlocks. Dolohov will murder me!"

"You can copy from mine Remus." Lily said very sweetly.

Remus looked at her "Er…thanks." He said fazed.

A small smile threatened to escape James's lips. "Why don't you celebrate? C'mon Remus. It's the first game Gryffindor won this year. If we win against Ravenclaw too there's a chance we'll win!"

"Neah! Slytherin beat both Gryffindor and Ravenclaw. I doubt Hufflepuff will have any chance."

James frowned "I suppose you're right. Anyway it doesn't hurt to hope." He raised his butterbeer "To Gryffindor!" he said.

Remus smiled "To a game well played!" he took an unopened butterbeer from the table and drank it.

"By the way nobody won the bet." James said saddened. "He was hit with a bludger after the game ended and he still hasn't been found.

"Give it time James." Remus said reassuring.

"By the way, who was he" James asked Lily.

"One of my dorm mates has a big crush on him. She's so sucked up that she doesn't realize what a fake he is. She hangs posters of him every night and kisses each one of them. From what I hear he's always like that. He's a Ravenclaw fourth year. How he got there is beyond me!"

"What's his name?" Remus asked interested.

Lily sighed "A ridiculous name really. I'm not even sure it's real. He calls himself Gilderoy Lockhart!"


	14. The missing professor

_Hello again! It's been a while since I last posted a chapter but I'm back again. Friday the thirteen wasn't an unlucky day for me but I can't say that for others. Here's the next chapter._

**Chapter fourteen: The missing professor**

"YOU'D BETTER GET GOOD GRADES IF YOU WANT TO AT LEAST BE ACCEPTED BACK HERE! I WOULDN'T LIVE WITH MYSELF IF MY VERY OWN SON FAILED HIS CLASSES BECAUSE OF DIRTY BLOOD INFESTING!" the angry voice of Mrs. Black rang in the Great Hall.

Everyone rolled their eyes and continued eating trying not to pay attention to the crazy woman's screams. They were already used to it by now and quite bored. Even the hype caused by the notice Sirius hung in the common room offering five Galleons to whoever found a way to stop the howler died.

In frustration, Sirius took his goblet of juice and threw it on the letter. It stopped for a moment waking a few students from their deep slumber but then it recovered launching drops of pumpkin juice over Sirius. He groaned at his newest failed plan as he picked up a plate to protect himself from drenching.

"THE NOBBLLEST BLLACK ATTENNDEDD HOOGWAARTSS ANND ALL FINNISHEED ITT WIITH PERRFECT MARKSS!" the letter hurled pumpkin juice back at Sirius as he looked dismayed at the furious impression of a talking duck while a few girls giggled at the sight.

"It's nice that his parents don't pressure him to do anything." James said causing Lily to giggle and earning a smile from Remus.

"You know I actually respect his parents. Not everybody would send a howler to their son three times a week. You'd think she got bored." Remus said.

James snorted "Her? NEVER! It's more a battle of wills I guess. She wants to show that no matter how long it takes, he'll move to Slytherin."

Lily looked between the two of them clearly lost in the conversation "But…Black WANTS to move to Slytherin." She glared at James "Doesn't he?"

James looked just as lost as her "I don't know anymore. I suppose he has already gone too far with his pranks and I don't think he fancies staying with Snape the next six years."

All of them smiled knowing fully well the animosity between the two boys. Every time those two met in the corridors, fireworks erupted. Literally! Too many times James had to see nasty burns on Sirius's face and bruises on Snape's face. Although the fact that being greasy seemed like a fun motivation to James, he began suspecting that there was something more to it. 'I've stood too much around Black.' James concluded when he voiced his thoughts alone in his dorm.

"I can't believe I'll be staying with Black for the next six years. He'll ruin Hogwarts!" Remus quietly complained poking his food out of boredom.

"It won't be so bad!" James assured "You can't tell me you had problems with him this year!"

Remus bit his lip looking like he was about to argue but then he shrugged and continued to play with his food. James looked at him and realized that Black had indeed been intruding into Remus's life. Wasn't Sirius the one that made James become a spy for him? Wasn't Sirius the one always lurking in the shadows trying to find out Remus's and James's secret? Even if Black had had a major change, he still was a problem.

"We'll just have to wait and see how everything turns out." James said.

"How are the Quidditch practices coming?" Lily asked desperate for a change of subject.

This instantly brought a huge grin on James's face and he ruffled his hair, a new habit he had "They're brilliant! I've learned so much these past months. Whatever I was doing home is nothing compared to Hogwarts Quidditch."

"So you're still going to try out next year?" Remus asked brightly.

James nodded his head unaware of his friend's sarcasm "Yeah! Definitely! I can't wait to beat the Slytherins!"

"Gryffindor still has a game against Ravenclaw this year though. I hope we win." Remus said.

"Anyway if you don't make it onto the team there's always third year." Lily said buttering a piece of toast.

Remus made a silent cough in warning but James was already shocked "Y…You mean…a year and a half waiting?" he stuttered.

Remus looked at Lily who was looking at James in the middle of biting and at James who looked ready to pummel Lily for such an obscured idea. He quickly came up with an idea "Hey speaking of…er…years, do you like McGonagall's lessons Lily?"

This had the effect Remus hoped for. James's annoyance instantly turned towards the professor not yet caught by Dumbledore. Several times James snuck out of Gryffindor tower to go spying for Death Eater meetings. So far James's plans failed because it seemed the Slytherins were taking precautions and not going every night but James wasn't giving up. Black and Pettigrew chose to spy on McGonagall following her everywhere they could. However they weren't very stealthy so McGonagall easily caught them and sent them away. Remus so far refused to take part in their plan. He didn't believe in his heart that McGonagall would do this but if she did, he didn't want to cross her.

Lily blinked at Remus looking at him like a mad man. "Er…I think I like them. McGonagall is a very good, strict teacher. Though, I can't say I'm on James's level." She smiled at James who seemed not to notice her.

"Yeah!" he grunted "What can I say? I'm an expert in transfiguration."

"Very modest too!" Lily laughed but stopped when she realized she was the only one. "Are you ok?" she asked James.

James turned his head towards Remus looking at him like he was the one to blame "Yeah! Fine!"

Remus rolled his eyes but didn't comment.

Lily interpreted the weird conversation wrong "Is it about Corinne?" Lily asked gently putting her arm on his shoulder.

James growled again and looked at the Ravenclaw table. Corinne was as usual eating with her fellow first years while Ludovic Palmer seemed to be telling a story. The boy was meddling more and more into Corinne's life and James found that he didn't like it one bit. He always had the arrogant look on his face holding his nose up, and wearing the most extravagant clothes and robes James ever saw. James had his share of wealth, a big one in fact, but he didn't go showing off to everybody.

"Why don't you go talk to her already?" Lily asked exasperated. "You don't come to Slughorn's parties, you stay as far away as possible from Ravenclaws in classes, and you turn your back to her whenever she's looking for you. What's wrong?"

James looked at Remus, no longer furious with him. Understanding came between them that this was one of Lily's screaming moments when whatever you'd tell her she'd get mad.

"It's just that…" James began trying to think quickly "I like her but I'm not old enough and I don't want to get her hurt. She's vulnerable and I don't want to give her hopes and then to break them!" he smiled pleased with his explication.

Lily looked shocked then frowned and began her tirade again "That's exactly what I told you! How dare you use my words against me?"

"When?" James asked stupidly.

"At the first, and only, Slug party you came! You were so sad that she was dancing with Black that although I was upset I came to comfort you."

James indeed remembered speaking to Lily at that party but comforting wasn't exactly what she had been doing.

"That's why you keep away from her?" Remus asked shocked "You said it was because you didn't fancy her anymore and I thought you were in denial."

Lily snorted "The only thing he's in denial of is his brain!"

"One at a time please!" James moaned putting his head in his hands.

"So you fancy her?" Remus asked.

James stopped moving for a while before replying with a "Yes."

"You are too afraid to talk to her because you're scared that she'll fancy Sirius?"

It was true, James thought. While James didn't complete his end of the deal, Black could always come and sweep Corinne off her feet just to get him jealous. "Yes" he admitted.

He expected Remus to laugh and ridicule him. He was not disappointed.

"That's the dumbest motive I've heard in my life!" Remus exclaimed.

"I've heard worse." Lily said looking bored as if none of this was new to her.

Remus stared at Lily for a second before shaking his head and turned to look at James. "If she indeed likes Sirius it wouldn't change anything would it? You'll both fall into silence and keep your distance. That's exactly what you're doing now! This is ridiculous! And what if she doesn't like Sirius? What if it was just your imagination and it was just a simple bloody dance?"

James without thinking shook his head "It wasn't."

Remus glared at him "And how'd you know?"

"I…I know. Trust me!"

Remus crossed his arms "Fine. But what are you going to do now? Right now you're like leaving him the territory open. You're helping him take her!"

"It's not like that!" James exclaimed already tired because of the interrogation "If I leave her alone, he leaves her alone! I have to deal with Black first before talking to her!"

"Well that's rubbish! Honestly it makes no sense! Whatever you and Black are hiding will come out eventually! Meanwhile Black isn't the only one trying to take her from you. There's still Palmer."

"He'll be taken care of!" James replied arrogantly.

"When James? You think she's going to wait for you forever? You have a chance in love James!" Remus said saddened "Take it! Not many have it!"

"You don't even know if she likes me." James scoffed.

"What if she does?"

"We should go. We're going to be late!" Lily said interrupting their quarrel.

"Huh?" they both asked confused.

"We have Defense in ten minutes." Lily explained while stuffing her bag with a lot of books.

James's expression turned grim and Remus's grimmer. Dolohov was their worst professor. He was doing what he thought was best and didn't explain to anyone. He had a lot of mood swings. If one week a student lost fifty points for whispering with another student, the next week the student would receive sixty for answering a question then loose ten for being to cheerful the next day.

"He practically holds the House Cup in his hands." James noted as he saw Fabian Prewett's name on the Gryffindor points list that lost twenty points for failing to take proper notes in Dolohov's class.

"Watch it Remus." Lily said gently "He didn't look to happy today at breakfast."

Remus nodded grimly. He was Dolohov's most disliked student and currently had ninety seven points lost on that class. He tried not to give a motive but most of the times the professor invented one.

"Lupin!" he yelled one time in class.

Remus sunk in his seat wanting the earth to consume him there and then. "Yes sir?"

"What is the counter curse for an Occamy's sting infection?"

Remus frowned. They haven't yet covered Occamys. They were on second year's curriculum.

"The strengthening charm?" Remus tried.

"Wrong!" Dolohov bellowed "It's the Contendo charm. For your knowledge, the Contendo charm can be user on all kinds of infections brought by creatures. Five points from Gryffindor for not knowing a ridiculous simple fact!"

Now, as Remus waited by the class, he sensed something was wrong. The whole class was waiting in the corridors for the classroom to open. They stopped a few meters away from the rest of the class because James saw Corinne among them. Remus waited idly for the door to open while Lily kept persuading James to talk to Corinne. Black and Pettigrew came a while after them also seeing the classroom door closed and sighed in relief. However five minutes later the professor still hadn't come and the students started to wonder.

"Maybe he tripped on a moving staircase." Sirius suggested hopefully.

"Are you so thick Black?" Lily commented "How can you say something like that?"

"What do I hear? Evans has a crush on the professor?" Sirius mocked.

Lily's face turned a deep shade of red matching her flaming hair. James thought her head started to look like a giant tomato.

"Shut it Black!" James said coming to her rescue "If she isn't some sick demented brat who wasn't raised by gits, that doesn't mean she likes him."

Just as the words slipped out of his mouth, James could tell he would pay for that. Sirius's face turned for a mocking stance to angered one, one that he only saw when Sirius faced Snape.

"You take that back!" he spat.

"Why? It's the truth!" James countered.

"Boys stop this at once!" Corinne said coming between them. She and James's eyes met for a moment but James looked quickly down not wanting to face her. Not just yet.

Sirius stared at her in shock and turned to look at James. His face was back to normal and as he looked at James, James could see a look of regret on his face. 'No it couldn't be!' James thought 'he's just sorry he didn't have the chance to beat me.'

"Right, right." Sirius said looking between James and Corinne. "We…er…we still don't know what happened to the professor."

James looked around to make sure the professor wasn't coming. He sat down on the floor avoiding meeting anyone's gaze and held up a bag of Bertie Been's Every Flavoured Beans and opened it.

"Anyone?" he asked coolly.

People laughed and each took a bean. As Corinne's turn finally came, she tripped and landed on top of James.

"Sorry." She muttered emotionless quickly rising up.

James nodded awkwardly avoiding meeting her gaze. This was the first time in months she talked to him and her voice sounded wonderful.

"Someone tripped me I think. I didn't do it on purpose you know." She continued.

James looked around seeing people talking to one another. The only one he saw looking at them was Ludovic who was instantly at Corinne's side trying to help her. 'What is his problem?' James wondered as Corinne sent him an apologetic smile and walked away with him. As she left her spot, James saw Black standing behind her with his hand in his pocket talking to a very confused looking Peter.

Shaking his head, he looked at Remus. He also was sitting on the floor but he was reading a book with a black cover. Next to him was Lily chatting hurriedly to Remus though she seemed to do most of the talking.

As he approached them, Lily looked at him and grinned. "How did it go?" she asked beaming at him.

James looked at her confused "How did what go?"

"The last time we saw you, you were serving her and then came crashing into you." Remus explained not needing to explain who "her" was.

"Oh, yeah. About that, I told you I can take care of it myself."

Remus frowned and Lily looked at him like he had sprouted an extra head.

"Sure James." Lily said sympathetically. "I'm sure you can do it."

"Huh?" James asked puzzled.

"Exactly my thoughts." Remus replied not looking up from his book. "What do you mean when you say you can take care of it?"

"I can handle my own love affairs." James explained.

Remus tore his eyes from the book and looked at James "So in other words you're saying that we tripped her on purpose so she could come falling onto you."

"Oh!" Lily said slapping her forehead.

James stared confused at them "You mean you didn't do it?"

Remus shook his head "No, although whoever did had the right idea."

"It's actually a third year charm, I think. None of us could do it." Lily said.

"Then…" James started then the image of Sirius appeared on his mind "Oh, never mind."

"What do you think it's keeping Dolohov from coming?" Lily asked worried.

"Missing him are you?" Remus mocked.

"Of course not! I just want to know!"

"Be thankful you have the time off." James said not really paying attention to the conversation. We was getting bored of waiting and hoped that somebody could come already and tell them they have the hour free.

"I'm skiving class!" James decided giving the other two a look. "Want to come?"

Remus shrugged "Be glad too actually. I don't even care if the professor does come."

Lily looked unsure "I'll wait for him. I don't want detention. Go ahead." She looked down, almost in shame. James and Remus shared a look not knowing what to do. Lily wanted to stay with them here, what were they to do?

"I'm sure someone will come to dismiss you. We'll be by the lake waiting." James guaranteed.

Lily smiled looking a little better. They both left her while she mourned their absence.

"Poor girl." James said earning a look from Remus. "She's mental, but she's not that bad." He added.

"Yeah." Remus agreed "Why doesn't she make some girl friends? She only hangs with us." He realised.

Shocked, James also remembered that Lily didn't seem to be spending a lot of time with her dorm mates. "Well, she doesn't exactly give you a good first impression, does she? I'm sure she'll have friends once they got to know her."

"I hope so." Remus mused "For the good of her and us."

James grinned "What? Getting tired of her already? We still have six years and something left."

Remus grinned as well "Yeah, school only has about two months left. I can't believe I've spent a year here already."

"Time flies doesn't it?" James agreed as they reached the double doors leading outside.

"It has only just begun you know?" Remus seriously added "The first four years are supposed to be blissful. Fifth year is the intermediate one and the last two are real life situations and troubles."

"If we get there that is." James felt the need to say. He wasn't a helpless brat calling for his mommy but then again his life was a little more complicated then Remus's. 'Is it?' James thought taking a glance at Remus. The pale boy looked worn as if he duelled with a hippogriff every month when he went…wherever he went.

With a start James realised there was a connection with Remus's colour and the place he went to every month. He always looked sick before he left and when he turned up again he looked even sicker. Then he slowly recovered before starting to pale once again.

"Is your mother sick again?" James asked before he could control himself.

Remus stood still "No." he answered.

Surprised, James looked over him. He looked ready to faint. This was usually the time when he would go.

"Alright then." James replied eyeing Remus carefully.

"Why d-do you ask?" Remus stuttered obviously shaken.

"You don't look to well so I guessed you received bad news."

"Oh," if possible Remus looked more shaken. "Now that you mention it I do have to go somewhere for a few days."

A triumphant smile slipped onto James's face "Really?"

"Yes."

James looked expectantly at him "Well, aren't you going to tell me why? You did say your mother isn't sick anymore."

"She is but that's not the point. A cousin of mine died last week and I have to go to his funeral."

"Last week? What, they're freezing him until you come?" James muttered sarcastically.

A small shade of red rose in Remus's throat. "He died Saturday. Since today is Monday, it's considered to be last week. Please don't interview me; it doesn't give me the best feeling."

James nodded and they set off. They continued walking towards a right spot by the lake near a tree's shadow. It was slowly heating up after the dreadful winter. It was slowly turning into a two season climate. At least the worst part was over.

"'Ello there boys!" The giant keeper of keys and grounds at Hogwarts greeted them.

"Hello Hagrid." James said with a smile.

"'Ello James. An' who's this awfully sick kid next to yeh? I remember yeh from the sortin' night. Yeh looked sick then too. Yeh don't eat a lot do yeh?" Hagrid chuckled "No matter now, pleased to meet yeh. My name's Rubeus Hagrid as I said earlier in the year."

"Remus Lupin." Remus introduced himself and felt his hand lifted and compressed under the man's grip.

"What are yeh two doin' 'ere anyway? Shouldn't yeh be off ter class?" the man asked eyeing them suspiciously.

"The defence professor didn't come so we went here to relax."

"Dolohov yeh say? Weir' man he is. He keeps asking Dumbledore ter fire me because I'm… well, he isn't a good person" Hagrid said regaining himself "But a great Auror. He fought in the Grindelwald war like no other. Word has it he was there when Dumbledore defeated 'im. He hasn't been the same since though. I suppose he misses the fights."

"He was there?" James asked felling dread creeping into him.

"Yes. He and Dippet ran the Order of the Dragon back then." Hagrid paused looking at them "I shouldn't have told yeh that." He turned around and headed to the castle.

"The Order?" Remus asked confused.

James nodded "It's too complicated to explain but it was like a strike team. When the Aurors from the ministry are unable to come through for us, the members of the order arrive and fix things. They dissolved when the war ended. The name represents the Hogwarts motto: never tickle a sleeping dragon."

"Draco Dormien Nuquam Titillandus?"

James nodded "I'm not sure if the motto came after they won or they inspired their name after the motto but the name itself represents the idea."

There was a pause "And how do you know this?" Remus asked.

James shrugged "I just do!"

A small scream came from the forest making James and Remus to turn around. Somebody was screaming and jets of light flew in one direction. James and Remus shared a look and headed towards the noise. As they neared Hagrid's hut, the racket ceased and something returned back in the forest.

People, most likely students, returned to what seemed like an interrupted meeting. They were stationed a little in the edge of the forest beyond Hagrid's pumpkin patch.

James held his hand in front of Remus telling him to stay there. Students in the forest talking about Quidditch were rarely found. By their covered faces, James also could tell it was something about his duty.

"-new location tomorrow night. We were told we had been already caught by somebody. He didn't tell us who."

The next voice that came surprised James. Although he didn't really know him well, he recognised the voice of Severus Snape. "And where will we go?"

"I will go to the second floor corridor. Filch doesn't go there since some ghost haunts the bathroom. YOU will stay in the common room and wait for fourth year like a good kid. We are not allowed any younger."

Snape snorted "Like the Dark Lord cares about age. It's only about power. Put me through the test Rodulphus please! I swear I'll have a few things to teach even the seventh years."

"I know you do." Rodulphus replied softly "but I'm afraid rules are rules."

"But the Dark Lord has the rule because he thinks first years are weak. Why won't you let me change that?"

"You dare question the Dark Lord's actions?" Rodulphus asked reprimanding.

"Y-You know what I mean." Snape stuttered.

"I should punish you but I'll let you go this time. Stop doing this and stop interrupting meetings!"

There were murmurs of agreement which told James that there were more there.

Lastly, the sad posture of Snape appeared from the trees not taking notice of a Gryffindor head sprouting from a pumpkin and retreated back. James slowly got back to Remus as quietly as possible. Remus was in Hagrid's hut. The man forgot to lock it so Remus slipped in when he saw Snape coming.

"What's wrong?" Remus asked James.

James gave a small grin "We finally have some progress. By the end of tomorrow, we'll know what McGonagall has to do with everything."

"How will we know?"

James's grin became wider as his eyes spelled "lunatic" all over them. "We'll crash their party!"

Remus sighed "I don't want to know do I?"

James gave a small chuckle and looked at the castle with a frown. "We're going to need as much help as possible. Suppose we should tell Black and Pettigrew?"

Remus sheepishly sat down not liking the plan at all. "We might as well!" he accepted.


	15. Propono Fama

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything that belongs to the glorious Gilderoy Lockhart, the handsomest, cleverest, charming and talented man on the planet. I don't own Harry Potter either._

_OK, so I haven't updated in a while. School is very tiring __ and my luck seems to wear out. Of course it all came back last Sunday when I won a free 10 day trip in summer at the beach, all thanks to my PowerPoint knowledge. Yeah, I rock:)_

**Chapter fifteen: Propono Fama**

Everything was like a blur to James as he ran across the Hogwarts grounds. Remus was also running on his trail. His idea was mad, he knew it, but another part desperately wanted closure on the whole matter. Remus was a good friend; he'd give him the choice to stay in the dorm. As for Black and Pettigrew, he really didn't give a damn about them and they were more and a good support if things turned out bad. He spent some time in the Hogwarts library reading easy spell books since he received that awful black letter. However, he was easy pray to a bunch of Slytherin senior years and one or two Death Eaters. As a child he'd leant horrific horror stories concerning the Knights of Walpurgis and Grindelwald from his parents. He'd wished they could go away and leave the good nice people alone. He hadn't known that he would later play a part in the war.

Sometimes he wished that his childhood was normal. Well, since he was a wizard it was impossible to be normal. But at least a childhood like his friends told him about. All his life he was a fugitive. His parents wanted to protect him from evil but it always found them. For the first two years since that day that changed his life, he was constantly moved to other locations. Sometimes he was left without his parents which left him with a broken heart. Finally deciding that no normal house was safe, they brought him to Hogwarts for the summer where the Headmaster of that time, Armando Dippet was a friend of his parents.

He grew used to the castle after a while. Being a child, he was forced to spend time in the Gryffindor common room (his parents' choice) and only left when he was accompanied by someone. In the school year, he moved at a deserted looking house in Hogsmeade. The house looked plain with old couches and beds. Spider webs were everywhere and the steps creaked every time he set a foot in them. His parents tried some repairing charms but the house didn't seem to listen to magic so it remained the same. He wasn't allowed to go outside for the reason that someone might recognize him. Two years later, as James approached eight years, they moved into a great mansion protected against charms and evil. Dumbledore placed all the shielding charms putting some extra improvements to it. That soon became their home and his parents, being one of the most respectful members of the community, had parties giving James the start of the chance to have a normal life.

However, it was too good to be true.

His parents, having full protection on the place, themselves being more than capable wizards, restricted him from going to Hogwarts as he could be exposed to outside interference. He turned eleven without receiving any letter and his parents, sympathetic, taught him some spells. As August approached, their safety was put into danger. A group of six people, presumably friends of his parents, walked into the shield without a scratch and waltzed into his home. They easily destroyed the kitchen, and by the time his parents heard about the attack, they were trying to break into his room. He still remembered that feeling of hopelessness in him when he took out his wand and stared at the door preparing to die. The door never opened. His parents got there in time. They dueled for half an hour and various shades of colors were seen through his door. They managed to get them but because of the effort, his father collapsed unconscious on the floor. Since then his home had been the hospital. Having no other choice, their eyes being brutally open, the sent him to Hogwarts.

And to Hogwarts he went! Despite the fact that he nearly missed the train, he had the chance to meet Remus, and why not, Lily. They were both good friends, although he didn't trust them enough to tell them what was happening in his life.

With a quick glance to see if Remus was still following, they entered the castle.

"Where do you think they are?" James asked Remus as he entered.

"Do you think they're still waiting for the professor?"

James gave a shrug and they left off for the Defense classroom. However they didn't find Sirius there. There were a small number of students left and Lily was one of them. She smiled brightly when she saw them and they went over to her.

"I'm so glad you came back!" she said "It's really lonely here. Not many students think Dolohov will come back so they went on their way. By the way why are you here?" she raised an eyebrow as both of them shared looks.

"We…er…we're looking for Black to give us his…Charms book. We lost it." James explained.

"Both of you?"

"Er…actually, we're thinking that maybe Black took one of the books by mistake so we want to confront him." Remus offered.

"Right." Lily shook her head obviously not convinced, a deep frown appearing on her face "He left a while ago with Pettigrew to the common room. He wanted to complete some assignment he had."

"You asked him where he was going didn't you." James asked not really intending it to be a question.

Lily stated "Yeah. How'd you know?"

"Er…you're not going away from here are you?" James asked biting his lip.

"No." Lily sighed.

James nodded "We're going into the common room. See you there I guess."

"Assignment?" Remus laughed after they left Lily there.

James chuckled "Who knows? Maybe he's taken an interest in Madame Sprout!"

Remus grimaced "That's not funny you know. It's sick!"

James still grinning ruffled his hair "Yeah. She is too interested in Slughorn." He said.

He fell silent after receiving a whack in the head from Remus.

As they entered the common room, they immediately spotted Black furiously completing a letter. He wore a grim expression and Peter was next to him sending nervous looks around the room. They were the only ones there however; the majority of the tower had classes.

"What's up Black?" James offhandedly asked sitting on the edge of a couch in front of him. Black looked startled, obviously not expecting company. He nervously folded the paper biting his lip. James wondered for a second what was so important but he didn't really care.

"Mudblood told you didn't she?" he asked taking a particulate interest in his desk.

"Yes, LILY told me." He answered not liking the boy's language.

"Snogged her yet?" Black asked in a cold voice still looking at the darn desk.

"Shut it Black!" James angrily retorted. He was getting tired of the numerous hints others have been giving him about a relationship "Lily and I are just friends."

"What does her hair smell like?"

James swore silently and mentally refused his mouth to say "cherries". Instead he groaned giving Black a nasty hand gesture. He liked Corinne after all didn't he? As much as he started beginning to reach the surface of Lily's mind he was still conscious that Lily was too weird to fancy. Plus it was always fun to watch Lily and Remus, two exact opposites interact and always wondered what would happen if those two got together.

"Smells like hair." James said though he knew Sirius's point reached him.

They sent mental daggers to each other for a while when Remus coughed.

"James?"

"Hmm?"

"Are you forgetting why we came here?" Remus muttered next to James.

"What do you mean?" Sirius darkly asked eyeing both of them "Aren't you here to annoy us?"

"As much as we love to do that," James said in a bored tone "we have bigger things to do."

"Oh?" Sirius asked raising his eyebrow.

"We've made progress." James said pointing to Remus and him.

"What progress?" Sirius asked.

_'Is he always this deaf?' _James wondered. "Death Eater progress." He explained hoping he'd understand.

"Really?" Pettigrew asked widening his eyes.

"Yeah." James replied uncomfortable not expecting Pettigrew to talk.

"Well, spill it out already." Black grunted.

"Well, it appears Snape wants to become a Death Eater." James said watching Sirius carefully. Sirius made no sign of startle conforming some of James's suspicions.

"Go on." Black urged.

"We were near the forbidden forest; we caught sight of some spell casting and went to see. Snape and a few others were having a talk. Long story short, they'll have a meeting tomorrow in the second floor."

"Isn't that nice…" Sirius mumbled putting his hands before his head, a thing he usually did when he needed to think. "Any plans?"

James shared a look with Remus. _"What will come will come"_ Remus's voice echoed in his mind. "Yeah. I say we crash the party."

"Just like that?" Black groaned annoyed "We're first years Potter. We're not descendents of Merlin either."

"I didn't say it would be simple!" James defended. He was having seconds thoughts about telling Sirius all this. "They're usually about five or six people. I say we stun them as soon as we can. We'll then wait for the Death Eater to come and we'll also stun him."

"Stun me." Sirius said.

"What?" James asked. It didn't bother him the idea so much. Not at all. He just needed to know what was Black going at.

"You heard me. Stun me!"

Shrugging, James raised his wand and muttered _"Petrificus Totalus"_, the only stunner he was capable of learning after having been the victim of it when Black cast it before Christmas.

The spell went out and headed towards Sirius. He didn't look disturbed at all. He raised his wand and muttered something James didn't catch. His spell disappeared in an instant.

"Woah!" James mumbled taken aback.

"There are a few perks of being a Black. I'm one first year so my magic isn't very good. At the meeting there will be Malfoy, Lestrange and a few others you don't want to meet. They all are sixth or seventh year. Still want to play hero?"

"Yeah." James whispered struggling to come over himself. He felt like a fool being beaten by Black so easily.

Sighing, Black picked up his backpack. He searched in it some time, muttering spells in it once or twice. He then picked up a book and threw it to James. Having played Quidditch for quite a time now, James caught it in the air inspecting it.

The book was completely black except for two words silver engraved on the top cover. "Toujours Pour!" Flipping through it, he saw some nasty spells in it. Spells his parents had forbidden him from even hearing about. This was probably the famous Black black book. A pun he enjoyed when he first heard about it but now he wasn't in a state to laugh. It was there, in his hands. If he could give it to somebody, the Blacks would be finally caught and thrown to Azkaban. However, he couldn't do that. Worse, Black was suggesting learning from it.

"If you tell a soul about it, I swear I'll kill you the instant I see you." Black threatened. His threats wouldn't have been so terrifying if James hadn't had those nightmares.

"So…er…you want me to learn from this?" James asked turning the book so all three boys could see the shell of what was a woman but without any bones left. It was a large piece of skin.

"Well, not that." Black said undisturbed by the image. However, both Remus and Pettigrew turned around not daring to see the image. Black came over to James and took the book from his hands. He opened to book at the middle page where the index was located. Looking through them he pointed the page to James "Now this is a winner." He said.

Curious, James flipped to the page. A picture was portraying two men. They were having a pleasant conversation until a spell hit one. He didn't look affected and continued talking. The other man looked upset and hit him. The other retailed and a fight begun.

The spell was called "Gossip spell." From what James read, it made one person tell what he thought of the other person unknowingly to him. This made the other people around him get mad and probably start a fight. While it was similar to the Imperius curse, it was much more different because what the person said was entirely up to him. Although it was a dark spell and banned from usage from the ministry of magic, the penalty to Azkaban was only for two years. The incantation was "Propono Fama!"

"You want to win? We have to even the odds." Sirius explained.

"But what if it doesn't work? What if they only commend each other?" Remus asked.

Sirius raised an eyebrow and a small smile appeared on his lips giving him a charming look "You ever met a Slytherin that truly admired another? If the plan doesn't work I'll personally throw myself in the middle of them and insult Voldemort."

"But…it's dark magic." James said fearful.

"So what Potter? I never took you to be one afraid of Azkaban." Sirius laughed icily falsely interpreting the reaction.

"No Black," James responded in an equally ice tone "it's just that I'm not that fanatic about Dark Arts as you are."

The moment James said it Black's face turned dark, and a mad look appeared. He looked like a mad man stalking his prey before attacking. James took a step back.

"Dark Arts is magic as well; you think that good fights over evil do you? You're wrong. Evil won a long time ago."

Sensing a fight coming up Remus cleared his throat. "Don't you have anything more innocent?"

Sirius turned to Remus, the mad look was still on his face. "I don't see what you care about innocent Lupin. As far as I see, you're just as "black" as I am."

Remus drew back. He couldn't know! Could he? He already felt sweaty and felt nauseous.

It was James's turn to stop a fight. "Black…er…look I want to know as well what's going on in this school but fighting fire with fire won't solve anything this time. Learning black magic just to stop them doesn't make us any better than them. I don't care what you think. I'm not touching this book." He said throwing it back to him. _"So much for exposing him"_ he thought.

He knew the procedure too well. He'd witnessed it first hand. Although black magic could be learned just for curiosity or for a better reason, the feeling of power the caster felt was overwhelming. Once feeling power, not many wizards could turn their back to it. The more the wizard learned, the harder it was to turn their back. It was like a drug. It consumed the will power, making someone dependent of it.

Sirius shrugged "Suit yourself! Peter and I will go through this. Oh and Potter, if you fall I won't come to save you!"

Nodding, James and Remus left the room heading for the library. The two of them spent the day learning and lecturing about different spells.

"I can't get this straight!" James said exasperated shoving the book down.

"That's ok. We don't have to confront them if you don't want to." Remus said simply.

A small smile appeared on James's lips. Remus knew he wouldn't give up the chance for anything. Remus knew that he needed to be reminded of the stakes once in a while. James opened the book once again thinking hard learning the spell. The bat-bogey hex wasn't very hard. It required basic transfiguration and charms knowledge. He knew he could master it but he was doubtful that it would be useful against the Cruciatus curse, and lesser against Avada Kedavra.

"The words go through one ear and exit the other. Bloody annoying!" he exclaimed.

"It's not that hard you know. Bats and bogeys start with the same letter and the have similar lyrism. Both take different sizes and both look nasty. It's a simple matter of animating them."

"Yeah, piece of cake!" James scoffed.

"I don't like how you always want to show off! It's annoying and dumb!" a voice suddenly yelled outside.

"Honestly, nobody can learn with this entire racket!" Madam Pierce sighed.

"What is wrong with you Emily?" another voice asked.

"I'm sick and tired of you, and you know what? I'm cheating on you with Bill."

In a matter of seconds, all the children inside the library and in the halls gathered to watch the scene. A pretty girl with black hair and blonde stripes appearing to be in Ravenclaw was pushing of a seventh year from Hufflepuff. The boy looked pretty much annoyed but the girl looked shocked by something.

"I hate you!" se screamed once again at him then looked around nervously.

"Well, if that's the way you want it we're through!" The boy growled.

Although the girl was crying and shaking her head furiously, she said "Fine!" before running after him.

"Well, that was weird." James observed.

"What do you think happened?" Remus asked

James shrugged "Don't know. Girls I guess. If I ever end up with someone like her please kill me."

"Sure thing mate." Remus said nodding. Going back inside, they saw Sirius and Peter laughing rolling on the floor. Pettigrew's laughs at least were heard in the entire library causing Madame Pierce to scowl at him.

"What's so funny?" James asked.

"Didn't…didn't you see…see that?" Sirius managed to say between laughs.

Fighting back the small smile creeping on his face, James was determined to say anything just to ruin their mood. "Reminds you of home doesn't it?" he asked slyly.

Whatever reaction James expected, it was far off of what went on next. Sirius raised his wand and sent a spell towards James. After a lot of Quidditch practices and hundreds of bludger hits, James listened to his intuition and ducked immediately. It was lucky for him that he did this. If not he would have probably had the same fate as the door behind him had. When James turned around, he saw the door dripping in blood. Reassuring himself that it wasn't his, Remus's or any other's in the room, he looked at Sirius who was smirking widely.

"Blood replenishing spell. Quite an old spell. It was used before the potion was discovered. It was banned after a wizard threw one of these into his enemy's mouth, causing him to choke in blood. It can be quite useful sometimes. Especially when one wizard insults another wizard's family."

"Think it's funny do you?" James asked, feeling head creep in his body "You would have laughed if you saw me all bloody fearing for life." The image of Sirius from his nightmares came back to him and caused him to shiver.

The large smirk didn't go off of Sirius's face however and he simply rose his eyebrow "Relax Potter, I wasn't aiming for your head. Not intentionally anyway. You should however shut your mouth when it comes to my family. I'm tired of reminding you that."

"And I'm tired of spending the room with the likes of you!" James countered back. "Don't you see it Black? You say you're not a muggle murderer. You say that you're just doing things for your own purposes! But it isn't true! You like to play dark tricks on us; you taunt Snape whenever and wherever you feel like it, you boast on being the better flyer, better person, better child but you're just a puppet. Your parents are playing you and you're helping them. Did it ever occur to you that we are all goody, goody for a reason? That evil is just what it's named? Did you ever try to be helpful to other people, to stray away from your family and see the other side, just for curiosity at least? So maybe the dark arts can offer you advantages, but being good offers you also. Evil hasn't won yet Black!" James said turning around and storming out of the library. Remus was on his tail. They passed a couple kissing passionately on the halls. Remus patted James on his shoulder and pointed at them.

"Would you look at that!" James smiled looking at Emily and Bill "they got back together!"


	16. A meeting

_Disclaimer: Honestly…if you think I'm JKRowling then I suggest paying a visit to the nice people in white suits._

_Hello everybody! I wish you all a merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! I hope you had pleasant holydays. However some hadn't. One of my best friends has had an accident with a car and her uncle lost a leg and she had a few nasty bruises and a broken back…thing so she had to stay in the hospital for two weeks. She was released yesterday and I wish her a quick recovery (although chances are she won't even read this but what the heck). This chapter is dedicated for her and also those whose Christmas hadn't been forgiving to them._

_Btw: did you see the new title? Wooohooo! I can't wait for the book to come. Then again, JK should take her time with it since I don't want the series to end._

**Chapter sixteen: A meeting**

"What's with them?" James asked curiously looking at a yelling match between a furious fifth year and a frightened sixth year.

"He's studying for OWLs I think." Lily answered.

James looked like a brick smacked him in the head "Already?"

"Yes, James, some of us like to be prepared for the exams and not just pick up a book on the last day and take a glimpse on the notes."

"We're first years!" James said gob smacked "What do you want me to do? Practice levitation charms?" he said as if it were a very silly idea.

"Well, yes. What if you levitate the wrong thing? Or what if the angle is wrong?" Lily countered back.

"Remus, help will you?" James pleaded.

Remus, who was silently watching the fight, turned is head and looking confused "What?"

"Tell her first year exams aren't important and that any idiot would pass them."

"Oh," Remus said understanding "Lily, James just has this gift of magic. He just does them without learning. It's just the way he is."

"But it isn't fair." Lily sighed "I spend nights trying to learn for the exams while he sleeps peacefully."

"Relax Lily, if it makes you better; know that I have a little trouble with the _Alohamora_ spell."

"That's second year curriculum!" Lily said exasperated.

"Well, yeah, but I do have trouble." James defended.

"At least Remus understands me!" Lily smiled at him "want to study tonight? At say… ten o'clock? I don't think there will be many students in the common room at that time."

"Tonight?" Remus asked "At ten?"

James chucked seeing his face. He didn't agree with the idea of loosing Remus but his face at that moment was priceless.

"Yeah." Lily confirmed "Why? Do you have anything planed?"

"Well, tonight, I have er…something else to do."

"Like what?" James playfully asked.

"Don't you remember James?" Remus looked dangerously at James. "I have to help you with that problem."

_Uh oh _

"What problem?" Lily asked

If James knew Remus, he would probably say something very bad "I…um…need him to fight…with me." James cut in.

"Why?" Lily asked.

"I need to train…I've lost my hand in dueling." James nodded trying to convince himself

Excitement appeared on Lily's eyes "Oh. Can I watch?"

"No, it's very rough. Nothing to see." Remus helped.

"Alright then." Lily said closing the subject.

Unknown to Lily, the two boys did plan to fight, just not each other. That night the truth about McGonagall would be found out for the better or worse. After the events the day before, Sirius and Peter became invisible. They hadn't shown up at dinner and last night nobody in the common room had seen them. James and Remus went to sleep later than two after James had perfected the Bat-Bogey hex. When they woke up, Sirius's and Peter's beds were still empty. However they had shown up at the classes missing only the lunch break. James hoped they hadn't chickened out but if they had, he would still go through with his plan.

"James?" Lily's gentle calling interrupted his thoughts. He turned his head towards her and met her eyes. He could see Remus scowling behind him fighting an urge to hit him. With a smile he looked at Lily again. For the first time he noticed the weird color of her eyes. They weren't just green. They looked like two valuable emeralds. There was so much depth in them that James lost himself for a second.

A frown appeared on James's face. What was he thinking? Since when did he look into Lily's eyes? An image of a small and crippled old man hiding in a corner and a redheaded woman yelling at him came into his mind. Those thoughts weren't good at all.

James shook his head trying to clear his mind of everything. For what he knew he was still very much liking Corinne although he knew his chances were going down fast.

"James what's wrong?" Lily asked cupping her cheeks. For a second, James thought he saw a blush. Grinning awkwardly, he ruffled his hair and winked at her "Nothing's wrong."

Behind Lily, a small snort was heard but neither paid any attention to it.

"Well then," Lily crosses her arms, the blush no longer visible "Can you answer my question?"

"Right. Er…I agree!" James said immediately thinking this was the right answer.

Lily smiled at him "Yeah, I also think Filch bought his way into Hogwarts but I don't think Dumbledore accepted bribery. Hm…I'll get back to you on that." She said rising up "I have to go to the bathroom. See you later." She waved.

"Yeah." James said frowning. _"What happened?" _was the question plaguing his thoughts.

"How'd you do that?" Remus asked when Lily had gone. "More important, why did you do that?"

"What are you talking about?" James asked feeling heat rise to his face "I just guessed." He answered Remus's first question.

"Course you did." Remus shook his head "Did you talk to them?"

James felt grateful for the change of subject "No, I don't reckon anybody else has either. He didn't even prank Snape today or anybody else."

"Maybe they went to prevent the Slytherins of us and now they're ashamed."

"Ashamed?" James chuckled "Them? If anything Black would make it a victory on himself and parade it with Pettigrew on his tail."

"Well then, I suppose we'll see them in about two hours. Where was it?"

"Second floor by the girl's bathroom." James absently said looking at the girl's staircase.

"If they don't come are we going to eat your mother's gloves?" Remus seriously asked.

"I guess so." James nodded.

"I do hope Black comes with an army of hippogriffs so we could fight of all the dragons." Remus continued.

"Yeah." James said still looking at the staircase.

"Great, then I'm off to kill Dumbledore then." Remus said rising from the couch to stretch his legs. "Wish me luck."

"Good luck." James waved unbothered. "Wait, what?" he turned at a laughing Remus. "I was saying to go up in our dorm and practice a little bit."

For some reason James doubted Remus had said that but he wasn't going to bring it up. With a last look at the girl's staircase, he followed Remus up their dorm.

"_Expelliarmus_." Bellowed James sending the spell towards Remus.

Remus however ducked it "_Petrificus__Totalus_!" he countered.

They had fought like that for an hour. Lily had once come up to check on them but after nearly being levitated, she stayed put in the common room.

"_Rictusempra_!" James said.

The spell hit Remus right on the stomach throwing him backwards. Remus fell on Pettigrew's chest, spreading his stuff everywhere.

"Ouch, James," Remus said laughing "I'm not a death eater you know." He laughed again "Help me up." He laughed "And end this curse" he managed to say before erupting again into laughs.

Smiling, James waved his wand muttering "_Finite Incantatem_" stopping Remus's hysterics. He held out a hand which Remus took and helped him up. Remus playfully punched James.

"Isn't that cute Pete?" a voice said from the doorway.

The duo turned to face Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew. Both boys had nasty smirks on their faces causing James to growl.

"It's called friendship Black, look into it." James threw.

Sirius sighed "Don't tell me what to do Potter" he said taking out his wand to prove his point.

"Are you going to hex us then?" James grinned also preparing his wand.

Sirius shrugged "If you insist…" he didn't complete the sentence. However, he muttered something and a yellow light erupted from his wand. The spell hit James, who began to cluck like a chicken.

Annoyed, James also sent, clucking, a red spell towards Peter since he knew he wouldn't be able to hit Sirius. Peter didn't have any reaction at first but when he tried to intimidate James by coming towards him, he tripped falling on his face.

"That's your best?" Sirius grinned. "Pity! You aren't going to be much help then." He said then uninterestingly ended his own spell.

"So you are going then?" James said relieved that he could talk again.

"Course. I don't want to miss a chance to fight. My reflexes are a bit slow."

"Shouldn't we be going then?" Remus urged.

"Where have you been all day?" James asked ignoring Remus.

A small smile appeared on Sirius's face as he looked at James. He ran his hand through his hair in a similar way James did. "Listen to your friend. We're going to be late!"

James sneered. Some habits die hard and even though Sirius was a changed man, Black blood still ran through him.

"This isn't over you know." James warned.

"Course it isn't!" Sirius shrugged and went downstairs.

"Come on James." Remus sighed following their steps.

Grunting, James left as well.

The common room was fairly empty. A few seventh years were still busy studying and didn't even notice the foursome. There weren't any Prefects so they would go unnoticed. Sitting peacefully on a couch next to the fireplace was Lily frowning over some paper she probably had to give tomorrow. James realized he hadn't had time to do his own homework yet and the thought of coming back into the common room to do it was for the first time relieving. Lily hadn't noticed them so they sneaked quietly out.

"And where do you think you're going?" The fat lady in the portrait asked.

"We're hungry so we thought we should go to the kitchen. Is there a problem?" Sirius said giving her a charming smile.

"Hmph, if I hear that you've been up to mischief I'll personally report to Dumbledore." The fat woman warned.

"Us?" Sirius asked innocently.

"Go on then, honestly!" the lady huffed crossing her arms.

"It only takes a bit of charm!" Sirius showed off when the portrait was way behind them.

Even James noticed the hint of sarcasm in Sirius's tone and couldn't help but laugh.

When they got to the second floor they sighed in relief. No Slytherin was there and they didn't bump into any professor or ghost. The second floor seemed lonely enough; the only thing weird in it was the big pool of water coming from the girl's bathroom. The boys sniggered seeing this and started looking for a place to hide.

"Come on Pettigrew you really think you alone will fit into that wardrobe?" James protested when Peter showed them a tiny wardrobe stationed in the corner of the corridor.

"If you're the master of hideouts in this castle then please enlighten us!" Sirius growled as yet, another portrait failed to move and open a passage.

"It seems simple enough!" James said showing a lot of confidence and ruffled his hair.

"Could you stop doing that stupid thing Potter? I know you like to pet yourself but do that when you're in your room. Alone!" Sirius snapped.

Desolated, James put his hand down but put a huge grin instead. "Why don't we hide in the girl's bathroom? It seems wide enough. And if McGonagall decides to powder her nose we'll hide in the stalls."

All three gaped at the easiness of the solution. Never one to quit, Sirius protested. "And what if the meeting is there? What if they check the bathroom before beginning?"

"Then we make our entrance known earlier. Besides, I don't think any Slytherin would want to go there. It's beneath them." James stuck his nose in the air as sniffed in the direction of the bathroom to mimic them.

"Watch it Potter, I may be a Gryffindor but I'm still a Slytherin by blood." Sirius growled.

"Too true." James whispered then in a louder tone "I'll go hide there. Everybody is welcome to join me." He waved and walked off.

Remus was the first to follow then Peter left as well. Alone, Sirius stuck his nose in the air in a similar manner James had done earlier and sniffed. "I can't believe this." He growled as he entered the bathroom and closed the door behind him.

"Nice of you to join us." James tone dripped with sarcasm. He was sitting on top of a sink, Remus was leaning on a wall behind him and Peter just looked out of place.

The place stank foully so Sirius couldn't help but comment "I'll never look at girls in the same way ever."

"Relax Black, someone left a dungbomb here and it seems recent." James scrunched his nose.

"Then maybe you should get out of here." A girly voice said.

Sirius whirled around, fear gripping him "Who's there?"

The ghost of a young girl, not very old, floated towards them betting her eyelashes. Her hair was deep black and together with a pair of thick glasses on her nose and her many freckles, she didn't look very pleasant "You don't know me do you?" she whined as transparent tears started flowing down.

"Myrtle?" Peter asked and quickly a deep shade of red covered his face.

"Oh, Pete" James mocked "you should have said you barged in on your girl's territory."

"She's not my girl!" Pettigrew snapped and looked at the confused gaze of the ghost. "She's my aunt."

"Perfect." Remus drawled. "A family reunion."

"You died thirty years ago" Peter whispered looking with awe at the ghost "when the chamber…"

"I hate to break this to you Peter but we have company." Sirius suddenly interrupted. By mutual agreement, Sirius was by the door listening to something unordinary. "Lucius just arrived followed by his gang. I couldn't recognize all the voices but the usual Lestranges, Malfoy and Mulciber are here."

"What do we do now?" Remus asked the question in everybody's mind.

"What's going on?" Myrtle asked.

"No time now." Peter shushed her "Can you please be quiet?"

With a frown, Myrtle wailed in a low voice and plunged herself in the toilet splashing the four boys.

"Hide!" James ordered as the four boys hid in the stalls. James closed his door as the bathroom door was opened and Rebastan Lestrange's head appeared.

"Come out!" he roared as he pointed his wand around himself.

Dread sneaked into James as Lestrange's footsteps were coming closer.

"Shh" a voice whispered behind him. James turned to face Myrtle. Not a pretty sight, mind you, but at the moment James could kiss her. She winked at him and passed through him. The feeling of a bucket of water thrown at him was nothing compared to the relief he felt. "What are you doing in my bathroom?" she asked in a sing song voice the Slytherins.

"And you must be Myrtle." Lucius Malfoy asked in his elegant stile.

With a start, James realized that the whole group was meeting there.

Meanwhile, crowded in one stall, Sirius and Peter were shoving each other. They made the terrible mistake of hiding near the dungbomb. The smell was unbearable but they had no other choice.

"Yes, but I'm not surprised you don't know me, everyone is making fun of poor Myrtle." She whined.

"Your auntie has serious issues you know that?" Sirius murmured.

"Leave her alone, she's had a tough life." Peter defended.

Sirius snorted "I bet"

In anybody would have said to him before he went to Hogwarts that in less then one year he would be hiding in a girl's bathroom waiting for a sign to attack a group of seventh years helped by two people that would love to kill him if they knew the truth, Remus would have died of laughter. However at the moment, he wasn't in the mood for laughing. He sincerely didn't know how he ended with the strange bunch of people. James was a boy of action, a boy with heavy secrets and a perilous future. He didn't like it, but he was prepared to face it in a manner Remus would never be able to do. Sirius was a Black. Not much to be added. Though with the begging of a change of heart and a hint of rebellion in him, the boy was a nutcase and needed to be treated accordingly. His Black blood would always flow in him however much he would change. Peter was a follower. Black's pet. The boys were inseparable and though recently they were beginning to have quarrels, Black and Pettigrew shared the same pitch black future.

"Scram girl, we have business to attend to." Mulciber sneered.

Remus only hoped he would be left out of it.

"A little more, a little more…" James silently pleaded.

He was looking through the keyhole at the argument. He saw robed Slytherins making way towards Myrtle in an intimidating way. James didn't know if spells against ghosts existed but then again, he wasn't specialized in Dark Arts. He hoped that the closest would make a few more steps so he could send the signal. He had to do it right however since a bad move would expose him.

At last, the shape made one more step and with a muttered "_Diffindo_!" the signal was sent.

Sirius and Peter were holding their noses when a scream of rage was heard and next thing they knew, a body was slammed at their door. Surprisingly prepared, Sirius held his hand on Peter's hand to keep him from saying anything.

"Those were my best robes!" Rodulphus Lestrange roared.

"Then why are you attacking me?" a jumpy voice asked.

"Because you were behind me!" he snapped.

A light bulb lighted in Sirius's head and he stuck his want in the keyhole and motioned for Peter to do the same. They both mutually agreed on the same spell and sent it in different directions.

"Rabastan be helpful for once and stop your brother from making a fool of himself once again." Lucius drawled.

"Stay out of this Malfoy!" Rodulphus retorted "I don't want your slimy nose messing my business."

"Rodulphus, I do believe you are talking to one of the Malfoy heirs. Shut your mouth or I'll shut it for you. Besides, you aren't doing anything useful with it." He added with the casual sneer.

Remus couldn't believe it. They didn't need to fight them. They were already fighting each other. With a bit of luck, they would murder themselves and the whole matter would be closed. He would go back to sleep and continue his studies peacefully as his mother had pleaded with him at the beginning of the year.

"_Phasmeracio_!" A grumpy voice muttered and Myrtle finished her role with a hurting wail.

"He's here!" James acknowledged.

He knew it. He knew it by heart. Since he first heard it, he replayed the tone, the words, the feeling within them in his mind trying to figure out whose was it.

"Why are you fighting?" the grumpy voice asked.

"Forgive me," Lucius said "but Lestrange is no good to us! I suggest we eliminate him. His brother too!"

"This is not what we came here for, my master's plan must be complete and he has chosen you to fulfill it."

"Then Lucius must be out of it, I suspect he's one of Dumbledore's men." Rodulphus said.

"I will have no more interruptions!" the voice roared "_Crucio_!" he casted and two howls of pain were heard.

James's heart was beating faster by the second. He could send a stunner through the keyhole at the death eater now and then Black and Pettigrew could take care of the rest. Something however stopped him. He was interested in hearing about that plan.

"The Dark Lord wants information about how the kid is doing."

An unknown voice responded "Nothing unusual. The plan is going successfully. He's made contact to the subject and he's slowly earning trust. We assume that it will be done in two years." He finished gently.

"TWO YEARS?" the man boomed "WHY DOES IT TAKE SO LONG?"

"Forgive him," a girl's voice pleaded "but the target is too closed in so it will take a while!"

"Fine!" the man spat "if however the plan fails, your heads will roll!" he finished and steps started going away.

"Now, James!" James whispered to himself "Do it now!" with Gryffindor courage, James pushed the bathroom door and sent the first spell he could think of "_Diffindo_!"

The spell hit the man's leg but the man instead of turning towards James he ordered "Take care of him." and left.

At the precise moment the man left the bathroom, another door opened and Sirius and Peter jumped out and sent two stunners of which one was deflected and the other hit the target.

James quickly did a count and found five Slytherins left. Rodulphus was lying unconscious on the floor hit by Sirius's stunner. Lucius was looking shocked at him from the floor as he seemed to be recovering from the curse. The rest of them had their wands drawn but were looking frightened at the three boys.

James took a glance at where he knew Remus was still hiding. He didn't expect Remus to fight in the first place but he couldn't help but feel a tinge of disappointment. Sirius and Peter were back to back ready to strike back and himself… he just relied on his instincts.

"_Stupefy_!" Rabastan was the first to recover and furiously sent it towards Sirius. Sirius quickly ducked along with Peter and the spell hit the unknown Slytherin male.

"Two down, four to go!" Sirius counted as he as silently as possible sent a leg-locker jinx at Rabastan.

"_Rictusempra_!" James casted on the female Slytherin. She fell on the floor laughing pleading for the curse to stop.

"_Incarcerous_!" Lucius lazily sent it at Sirius hitting him on the back. Ropes binded him and he fell on the floor.

"_Petrificus Totalus_!" Peter sent at the girl finishing her off.

"Well, well," Mulciber grinned showing yellow teeth and gripped Peter by the neck. "It seems you have lost your main fighter haven't you?" he nodded towards the struggling Sirius.

"I can't say I'm surprised!" Lucius added with a smirk "this one," he looked towards James "was rotten from the beginning but these two had serious potential. What a…pity, to lose them!"

"_Petrificus Totalus_!" James tried but Lucius stopped it yawning dramatically.

"Your parents were so much better than you Potter; my parents had serious trouble before they went out on retirement." Lucius said.

Peter kicked Mulciber between the legs, making him release his hold and Peter came tumbling down. He quickly tried to recover and stunned Mulciber.

"Stupefy!" Lucius lazily muttered and Peter remained still. "Pathetic!" he turned towards James "Only one left I see, oh, we're going to have fun with you!" Lucius smirked.

What he meant to say, James didn't find out because in the next second Rabastan shrieked as two bats were coming out of his nostrils. He jumped around but unknown to him, Sirius had a leg-locker jinx on him so he crashed at the floor. James took advantage of the moment and sent a successful stunner at Lucius. Remus came out grinning from the stall and finished Rabastan with his own stunner.

"Perfect timing mate!" James grinned.

"Sorry about that," Remus apologized "I thought the element of surprise would go well at the finish."

"Apology accepted!" James agreed and both of them turned towards Sirius who was looking mockingly at them and the unconscious Peter.

"_Diffindo_!" James said and the ropes split open.

"What do we do with Pettigrew?" Remus asked looking at all the bodies.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" James levitated Peter.

"Good thinking Potter!" Black said casting worried looks on Rodulphus "I think our stunners are wearing out. We might be in a little bit of trouble tomorrow but what's done is done. Did you see him?"

James shook his head "His back was turned to me. Now I know for sure that I know him. He was afraid to face me! Let's go!" he urged and the three kids left the bathroom.

The thoughts in James's mind were in no order or logic. The words said that night kept repeating themselves over and over. _"The plan is going successfully. He's made contact to the subject and he's slowly earning trust."_ Whose trust were they talking about? Was it him they were after? Did the assault begin already? If he listened to them, it began a long time ago. James realized more then ever now that he didn't have, or couldn't have any friend. He looked at Remus who was walking peacefully a few steps behind the group. His stunt in the bathroom, while showing tactic, showed also fear of attacking Slytherins face to face. Remus's secret became more interesting to James now more than ever.

Sirius was also having similar thoughts. He knew his family had doubts about him, for good reasons too but sending a spy? A possible friend of his? He couldn't imagine Peter doing it but then again, Peter never had courage that seemed to flow in Sirius. Potter was out of the question but Remus was also interesting. What connection could there be to the reserved and quiet Lupin and the Death Eaters?

Remus saw first how James's head turned to glance at him then how Sirius openly glared at him. He was a coward and he knew it. They knew he had been afraid to face them, but they didn't know his life! If he was caught doing anything good or bad, the attention he would receive would do much damage. He couldn't believe James would be a spy for the Death Eaters. He knew him too well. Sirius on the other hand was sneaky and dark. He already showed interest in his secrets. Maybe he already knew and was trying to recruit Remus to the bad guys? Well, good luck with that, he thought, nobody could ever make him use his curse for evil. What if he was trying to ally himself with James to make a way to show he was finding himself out then blackmail him. Remus made a mental shudder and promised himself to keep quiet.

They hurried to the common room so they didn't speak to each other on the way. All of them were nervous and excited. They narrowly passed Flitwick and said the password to the Fat Lady. Grumpily, she let them in and they exhaled relieved.

"Why am I floating?" Peter squeaked as he recovered.

"Now he wakes up!" Sirius rolled his eyes as James ended his levitation making Peter to fall abruptly on the floor.

"You think this is over?" Remus asked hopefully.

"No," James shook his head "I fear it's just the beginning."

"Right! I'm sleepy and I can't think right now, we'll talk in the morning!" Sirius offered.

"Sounds good to me!" Peter agreed.

"Let's go then," Remus accepted and turned to James who had a lost look on his face "James?"

"You go ahead," James said at the three boys "I forgot something here!"

The boys nodded and went upstairs. When they disappeared out of sight, James turned around and picked a blanket from a couch. He then went to the sofa near the fireplace and put the blanked over the sleeping form of Lily. He had seen her when he came in the common room but he couldn't make a fool out of himself to the other three. If he woke her up, she'd ask questions and he wasn't in the mood for that. He realized he still hadn't done those papers but they could wait. He was too tired at the moment.

With a last look at Lily and a murmured "Good night!" to her, he went upstairs.


	17. First year exams

_D__isclaimer: If I were JK I'd tour the world screaming out loud that I finished the series, not making a fic of it. _

**Chapter seventeen: First year exams**

As spring came and went, the first school year of young James Potter, Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew and Lily Evans was at its end. The young students found the first exams to be a distracting experience and so all their time was taken by them. Any thoughts of fun, activity, fresh air and evil dark lords were gone. Taking cue of them, all the school was a hustle of annoyance and stress generally coming from fifth and seventh years, followed closely by sixth and first years. Almost everyone was with their nose in the book recapping any forgotten incantation or plant uses.

The Quidditch Cup had been won by Slytherin that year. The green robed students were, naturally, ecstatic and their ego had grown even more than James ever remembered. Ravenclaw came in second, Gryffindor in third and Hufflepuff had gotten last place. The last matches were commentated by a sixth year Hufflepuff. They were, without the humorous comments, boring, only half of the school came to most of the matches, others finding enjoyment in reading and rereading school books.

Of course, there were a few strays that didn't want to read any "ruddy" book and found enjoyment lying around and complicating things for others.

A Mr. Sirius Black for example found it amusing to hex a slimy Slytherin by the name of Severus Snape every time they met and sometimes without just because he found it fun.

"Had enough Snape?" Black asked him one time after dinner.

Snape struggled in his ropes trying to find a loose thread but with no luck. He sneered furiously at the black haired boy showing yellow teeth and said with a whisper "I know your secret Black, better play nice or the world finds out and you'll be out of Hogwarts before you say Merlin."

Black laughed at looked around himself. Nobody seemed to be there. His eyes turned a dangerous shade and before Snape's eyes, he turned from the cute boy to a monster, much darker then a veela. "And just because you know _my little secret_" he said in a sing-song voice "you'll do well and play the perfect puppy you are. No, wait, it's an insult to puppies, play the perfect rat you are." He finished.

"Let me go now or I'll tell your mother about your so called friends, Potter and Lupin." Snape said in triumph.

Black flinched, not expecting such a curious threat but laughed all the same "Don't you know Snape that it isn't nice to tell lies? Potter and I are perfect opposites, you tell mother all you want but she'll know I'm telling the truth even if she's angry with me. Not to mention, she doesn't have a huge fancy for you." He smirked.

Snape's face turned white then red with fury. He tried another effort of escaping but failed once again. The ropes Black conjured to keep him glued to the ceiling were flawless. "Maybe she'll believe you over me but I don't think she'll ignore Malfoy or Lestrange. They know, the whole pure class of Hogwarts knows. It's only a matter of time before she'll find out."

"I don't know what you're talking about!" defended Sirius

"But you do" Snape grinned "they know you were in the group that foiled one of our meetings. They already announced the higher class and if I were you, I'd go to dear mummy for support as fast as I could."

"Butt out of my life you sniveling worm!" Black erupted "It's my life and I choose to do with it whatever I want to! I have my own reasons for that, reasons that don't concern you! And if you must know, mother has already found out."

"Your defensive mood says otherwise. Careful Black, staying too much with Gryffindors has altered your mind and you can't behave properly. It isn't in the Black code to show too many feelings." Snape muttered in a calm voice.

"I'm telling you for the last time Snape, leave me alone!" Black roared and marched out of the corridor leaving Snape stuck to the ceiling bound with ropes.

Neither boy knew that their conversation had been overheard by another boy, a small frail boy with a pair of glasses and hazel eyes, listening from behind one of the school's portraits.

James Potter was an unusual boy, more unusual than being a wizard going to a wizarding school and learning spells and potions. He was a man having grown up in difficult circumstances. Any boy in his condition would loose faith and give up. He, however, liked the idea of giving hell before giving up and as such, tried all he could to become a better wizard. The Potter family was from a long line of pure blood wizards and very respected in the community. They had their beliefs and stuck to them but it didn't matter much to James, who believed that being good has more advantages than being powerful. He didn't give much of all the dangerous spells and influence. The only thing he never agreed with was their reluctance to socialize with many muggleborns. They accepted them, but cared too much about their face in public. He knew they were right to some extent, being in good terms with everybody meant more help. He also knew that when he would grow up, he'd turn his back on this entire act and do whatever the hell he wanted. He hoped he would have the chance to grow up…

He smiled to himself and shrugged, not caring much about what the next day will bring him except exams. He looked out the window. It was a sunny Sunday and a bunch of students were laying by the lake watching the Giant Squid splash the water. They were, of course, also reading on a book. Snorting, James turned around not wanting to be reminded of those darn books. He knew he should learn for the one he had next day but roaming through the castle seemed like a better idea. He remembered the desperate look Lily gave him when he told them he didn't want to study. She probably thought he wouldn't pass. Remus had been uncaring, knowing that both of them learned and practiced more for the exam than anyone else a few weeks ago. He only sent a coughing "be careful" to James, meaning he shouldn't get into too much trouble with the Slytherins.

Snape's words echoed in James's mind _"They know, the whole pure class of Hogwarts knows. They already announced the higher class and if I were you, I'd go to dear mummy for support as fast as I could."_ That couldn't be good could it? It also explained the level of violence between the two houses. They didn't say any words because they didn't need to.

The two groups of boys didn't deal much with each other anymore. With the upcoming exams, Pettigrew and Remus had had their noses in books all the time. Peter went to the hospital numerous times to get calming draughts and a few soothing words from the nurse. Black had his own plans unknown to the other boys and went missing for days coming only for classes. His demeanor darkened and he snapped at random people for the most absurd reasons. He didn't even ask James if he knew anything more about Remus's secret.

His love life still hadn't made any progress. Corinne was distancing from him slowly and surely, become better friends with Ludovic. James started a deep hatred towards the boy and each time he saw him he wanted to punch his face. He couldn't put a finger on it, but there was something in that boy unsettling him. For a while James thought it was jealousy but it wasn't only that. Worst thing was, he didn't know for sure what was wrong with him. He expected an explosion every day but it never came.

The next day, James swore to himself for lack of preparing. He looked down at his charms paper Flitwick gave them to complete. Who would bother learning about what some spell some git Aladdin used to animate a carpet. Wouldn't it have been better to put this question in the History of Magic paper? He thought hard about what they had learned that year. Swishing and flicking for the first half and moving objects across the room. It had to be something with moving objects right? What use would a kid have with it? His thoughts drifted off to girls, homework, sports…wait a minute…sports! Quidditch! Flying brooms! Smiling, James scribbled with his quill "Hovering Charm". It wasn't that hard after all! Second question: what spell does one use to attack a person without making any damage? Shrugging, James wrote "Bat-bogey hex". It wasn't that hard after all!

Sitting at the desk next to him, Remus was having troubles of his own. Who the hell was Aladdin? He was sure he heard about him before in a muggle book. It struck him about the possible relation to wizardry at the time. Wasn't he supposed to have a good memory? Should he ask James if he knew? Flitwick said something about an anti-cheating quill. What did that mean? Why did he spend all those hours reading if he didn't know damn anything? Aladdin…Aladdin…wasn't it one of those Arab names? They had flying carpets right? With new renowned hope, Remus wrote "Hovering charm" on his paper.

Of course something like this would happen! Peter swore silently to himself then directed it towards Sirius. Why did he have to listen to Sirius and enjoy that last day? He could have been studying! He could have memorized the whole book if he tried. Why didn't he? Why did he always listen to Sirius? His family hated him by now and the Slytherins laugh at him. He didn't present any protection. Peter knew he wasn't very skilled but his whole life until then Sirius defended him. What should he do now? Why didn't he concentrate on the bloody paper?

Sirius sat lightly on his chair studying his paper. Aladdin? Didn't his mother threaten him once in the Howler with making him fly like Aladdin never coming down? It must be a Hovering Charm. An inoffensive hex? What good could that do? He wrote all the same "Laughing charm" putting Rictusempra in brackets. He read the next question: "What's the proper motion of the arm in the Unlocking charm?" he gave a small laugh and wrote his answer.

"Five more minutes!" Flitwick said an hour later.

James ruffled his hair and looked at Remus. Remus looked back at him. Flitwick coughed and both heads went down. James glanced at Lily sitting two desks in front of him. She was writing like mad. He shook his head in amazement. He glanced at Pettigrew, two seats left who looked like he was pulling his hair out. He glanced at Black who sat with his arms behind his head triumphantly. He must have thought he finished first. James snorted and made some moves with his quill pretending to write something. He wasn't in a hurry to give his paper but he didn't have the heart to go over all his answers again. He closed his eyes as Dumbledore instructed him and imagined himself on a broom in a beautiful winter day in the mountains. His broom gave a jerk but James held on swiftly. He quickly opened his eyes in alert and looked around. Legilimency? Damn, he should protect his mind more often! Who tried to read his mind? Flitwick? Dumbledore told him nobody in the staff knows Legilimency as it's rather denied by the ministry and a violation to student privacy. A student? A first year Gryffindor trying Legilimency? James shook his head and closed his eyes again. Nobody would find out!

"James?" someone shook him.

James opened his eyes abruptly seeing the whole classroom empty. He fell off his chair in surprise making Remus chuckle and Lily shriek. She helped him up quickly dusting his clothes off.

"Er…thanks!" James said awkwardly.

"I can't believe you fell asleep! It the most important thing in our life as of yet and you fall asleep?" Lily looked incredulously at him.

James ruffled his hair and shrugged looking rather goofy. Remus patted James's shoulder and told Lily to lay off James's clothes.

"What happened?" he asked puzzled.

"Flitwick took our papers, he gave a grunt when he saw you asleep but didn't comment." Remus answered.

"I can't believe you fell asleep!" Lily groaned rolling her emerald eyes, James noticed.

"How did you do?" Remus asked quickly ending James's distraction.

"Er…fine" James shook his head "Great even! I told you I don't need any books!" he sent a smug look at Lily.

"I hope you'll say that after next exam!" Lily countered.

"Why?" James asked.

"Because you can't make things up in Potions!" Lily rolled around gracefully and walked out of the classroom.

"Why do I have the feeling she wants me to fail?" James asked Remus.

Remus shrugged "If you feel better, I also have the same feeling!"

James groaned "Great!"

"What's it to you?" Remus asked uninterested.

"Er…she's supposed to be a friend you know!" James nodded.

Remus didn't comment and pushed James forward.

Unlucky for Lily, Potions wasn't so much of a difficulty for James. His mother made him brew boil cure potions for her all the time. Luck had it that that was what Slughorn chose to give.

At the end of the exam, James's potion had the faint green glow it needed to have and Slughorn gave a satisfied nod. Of all the class, only James, Lily and Snape received the same color. Remus's had a strong green look and Black's had a yellowish tone. Peter's was deep red.

"What do you have to say now Lily?" James asked her.

"At least you didn't fall asleep." Was all Lily said to him.

James opened his mouth but Remus pulled him out of the classroom before he had any chance of replying.

Even his exam with Dumbledore was satisfying. Dumbledore tested James three times to see if he could get into his thoughts. Though he succeeded the first time, his second and third try were completely thrown off.

"You've done wonderful James!" Dumbledore said "Very few can manage to throw back a Legilimens like myself. I'm afraid this is the last time we'll meet." Dumbledore sighed.

"Why sir?" James asked confused "I still have holes!"

"Even if someone would enter your mind, they'd get very little knowledge." Dumbledore said not looking at him.

"Is anything wrong sir?" James tried

This time Dumbledore turned to look at James "I cannot lie to you as you have a big part in all this. Yes, James, something is wrong! Voldemort has more power by the day and nobody is doing anything against him. They are still hoping that he will surrender. I know he won't. Tom isn't going to give up so easy."

"Tom, sir?" James asked.

Dumbledore nodded "That's his real name. I am afraid I have no evidence of it, his appearance has changed. The Tom Riddle that studied at this school is considered dead. However, I know it's him."

"How do you know professor?" James asked.

"Because the way Voldemort works is identical to the way Tom Riddle behaved. I had the privilege to see him when he was in the middle of his transformation."

"Transformation into what sir?"

Dumbledore gave a sigh "Knowing the Dark Arts as Voldemort does, and most important, frequently using them, had a deep impact into ones soul so with time, the body begins to look like the spirit. I said I know Tom isn't going to give up because he worked all his life to become like this and it's in his blood. All evidence suggests Voldemort is the hair of Slytherin."

"Is he the only one?" James asked.

"We have to assume there isn't. If there was, we'd have two Dark Lords." Dumbledore answered

"And of the other founders?"

"James I'm afraid it's becoming quite late. Congratulations on mastering Occlumency. I have no doubt we'll be seeing again." The usual twinkle in the headmaster's eyes was gone.

"Good bye sir!" James said and left a little shook up.

As the week of the exams passed, James found the tests very easy to go through. He managed to successfully change the color at Transfiguration, he mapped the stars in an amazingly accurate order and managed to correctly prune his Abyssinian shrivelfig.

"This week wasn't so bad was it?" James grinned at Remus who looked like he had swallowed a Flobberworm.

"We still have Defense against the Dark Arts!" Remus muttered.

James nodded in understanding. Since Professor Dolohov came back a week later, from a mission to the wizarding colony in Spain, he had spared no mercy on James and Remus. Besides his unusual hatred towards Remus, he developed a liking to making James do detention and giving both of them huge essays. This shocked the entire classroom as James was one of his top students and generally preferred by professors.

"What do you think he'll give us?" James asked.

"Fight a dragon? And maybe give us special assignments to go into his mouth and take the heart out."

"Won't that kill you? Dragons have a high level of acid in them." Lily said coming to them from behind.

"Exactly!" James grunted opening the door as the bell rang.

"Potter, Lupin and Evans you're late. 10 points each from Gryffindor!" Dolohov said

"That's not much!" James observed rather loud.

"And 20 points taken for cheek!"

"That's more like it!" Remus murmured.

"Hey good luck Lily!" James whispered as they parted for their seats.

"Good luck" Lily said back.

"Good luck to myself then." Remus muttered.

"You have two hours to complete this paper! If you have any questions keep your mouth shut and think. If anyone tried to copy from anyone else I'll know!" he pointed at the sneakoscope on his desk. "Begin!" Dolohov ordered.

James looked down at his papers. There were three pages. The first one was a lesson taken from a third year manual.

"Professor, we didn't study about" James looked at his paper "Werewolves!"

"Like I said Potter, shut up if you have any questions!" Dolohov snapped.

"That wasn't a question really, merely a statement!" Black commented.

"It doesn't matter what you have or haven't learned. In real life you won't have days of preparation to deal with a situation. When you're out there you have to think on your feet!"

"Don't you have Auror training before?" James asked.

"Potter, if you say anything more, I'll consider it cheating and throw you out of this classroom!"

"But we're first years! How can we deal with real life? We're now in the process of learning!" Lily defended James.

"Being a bookworm isn't going to help if I let's say…become a werewolf here and now."

"It's the middle of the bloody day!" Sirius cried outraged.

"Then what if I point my wand at you and start casting the killing curse?"

"I…duck? There isn't any protection against it professor. You should know that!"

"IF ANYONE SAYS ANYTHING MORE HE'LL BE THROWN OUT OF HOGWARTS!" Dolohov roared.

With all hope lost, the three students sat down and began to read. The only one not reading was Remus who looked lost in his seat counting his last minutes.

They never came and Remus was thankful for that. The fury directed to the professor made the students oblivious to the obvious! They spent two hours trying to finish their tests. Lily broke out sobbing at one point but hid it to avoid upsetting the professor. The professor sat in his chair like he did since he came back from his absence. He studied all their faces carefully. With ten minutes to go, Sirius was already playing with his quill having finished his paper and James, also done, looked at the professor seeming lost in thought. Remus wondered what James was thinking of.

"Having fun copying Lupin?" Dolohov suddenly said.

"Er…" Remus began

"Finish your paper and leave it here!" Dolohov indicated.

At once Sirius jumped from his seat and handed the paper over. Dolohov glanced over it and grunted disappointed. Other students followed Sirius's example and left their papers on the desk.

Five minutes later Remus answered the last question as the professor rose from his desk.

"Time's up! Lupin and Potter hand over your papers!"

Remus realized that both of them were the last ones left. He rose up and saw James was at his side wearing a grim expression.

"Wait for me. Check the door in front for Bumblebees!" James muttered so slowly, Remus would have thought he had heard wrong. However James repeated again "Bumblebee"

They both handed over their paper and Remus left the classroom still confused. James stayed there appearing to examine a book.

"Anything that I can do for you Potter?" Dolohov grunted.

"Yes sir, I was wondering if you can show me how to send a severing charm. You know, in case I come face to face with a Death Eater.

Dolohov flinched and stared at James. James held his most impassive face he could manage.

"Why would a Death Eater bother with you?"

"I know…things. I'm sure Dumbledore has informed you of my situation."

"Yes, I know that Potter, but if you come face to face with one of them, you aren't likely going to last long enough with this spell. Don't waste my time with such a trivial matter!"

"What if I say I hit one of them with it?" James challenged.

"Then you're a liar. If you know how to cast one, why ask me for help? I also doubt you've ever come across one in your life." Dolohov said "Anything else I could…enlighten you with?"

James bit his lip "Er…I think my desk was jinxed. It rocked back and forth the entire test!"

"Lead the way!" Dolohov said.

James went to his desk and waited for the professor to come. Dolohov walked slowly but surely to him, not having any trace of pain in his leg.

"I don't see anything wrong Potter! It looks still to me!"

James sighed "Sorry sir, I guess I'm tired. Have a good day!"

With heavy feet, James walked to the door trying to think fast. He had been wrong. He had his hand on the doorknob when he asked.

"How was Barcelona sir?"

"Wonderful!" Dolohov replied.

James nodded and tried to turn the doorknob. It didn't open.

"Of course you know Barcelona isn't where the wizarding center is." James said feeling frightened.

"Of course!" Dolohov said and sent a spell towards James the next second.

The last thing James remembered was the wand pointed at him.


	18. Revelations

_Hey everybody, it's been a while. First year is at it's end and I'm excited for now the real action starts. I hope you enjoy and please leave your reviews for me. It really matters. This is part one of a two part chapter._

**Chapter eighteen: Revelations(1)  
**

Of all the dumb ideas James had, James was sure this was the worst of them. Standing in front of a door searching for bumblebees seemed rather pointless to Remus. It wouldn't hurt to look though and Remus would ask James what he meant when he would come out of the classroom.

"Lost something Lupin?" Sirius asked from behind.

Remus jolted and looked at Sirius "Er…no."

Sirius raised an eyebrow and pointed at the door "Cut it out Lupin, I don't imagine you taking interest in doors. Whatever Potter is planning to do I want in!"

"Why do you think James plans to do anything?" Remus shrugged.

"I know when a bloke is wasting time. Potter finished half way through and spent the last part practically eating his quill."

Remus sighed and looked around "Where's Pettigrew?"

"Off eating I think, don't change the subject! What's Potter up to and what does staring at a bloody door got to do with it?"

"James is inside talking to the professor. He told me to watch the door for bumblebees." Remus explained.

As soon as he said the word, the door made a clicking noise and disappeared from sight. Instead, a big closet stood before him.

"Smart Lupin!" Sirius muttered "Remind me to never speak in riddles with you!" He then pulled Remus by his robes and dragged him inside. As they entered, the closet increased in size until it was large enough for both of them to move freely.

"What do you suppose this is?" Remus questioned. Brooms started dusting the place making Remus cough once or twice.

"A listening closet. I heard about these but never thought Hogwarts had them!" he was awed by his surroundings and closed his eyes making a chair appear out of nowhere. "In the war, wizards used these to hide and listen to meetings. The room has a mind of his own and produces anything a spy would need. The objects can't be taken out of here of course but you could spend a lifetime inside one of these and not need anything!"

"Why would James send me here?" Remus asked making a chair of his own.

"Lupin you're really deaf you know that? Potter wants us to watch the defense classroom. Something is going on! Any opinion?"

"Well, James wanted to talk with Dolohov about something…" Remus started.

Sirius cut him off "If he needs this place, he surely put himself in danger. Had to play hero did he?" Sirius groaned "So he suspects Dolohov of foul play. I'm betting everything I have that it isn't about the damn exam. Maybe he thinks Dolohov is in cohorts with McGonagall? No, no, wait a minute!" Sirius screamed having realized "There was something about that ruddy night I didn't understand! If McGonagall had changed sides, why did she and the Death Eater put a show on planning to talk to Dumbledore? She didn't know we were there. The only solution possible is that she didn't know the guy was a Death Eater!"

Remus slapped his forehead "Course! She was calling him professor not because he was her professor but because he was a professor, ours!"

Sirius nodded "So the Death Eater is…" he swore "idiot bloody Potter, only he could have done something as stupid as confronting a Death Eater about his identity!"

At that moment a red light illuminated the door for a second before fading. A crash was heard then it sounded as if something was dragged away.

The door opened to reveal Dolohov sneering and holding his hands in the air. He looked around checking to see is somebody was looking.

"He can't see us!" Sirius explained. "Once those meant to use the room get inside, the false image of a door returns. Nobody can get inside unless the say the password. We're also sound proof." He added.

Once he was sure nobody was looking, Dolohov knelt down and dropped something rather brutally. Nothing was visible though and the two boys shared confused looks.

Dolohov then took out his wand and muttered an incantation nobody heard. James's body appeared instantly hovering up. Dolohov cursed and picked a silvery substance from the floor and covered him making him invisible again.

"That's an invisibility cloak!" Sirius awed delighted looking like a little boy in front of the Christmas tree.

Dismayed, Remus gave him a slap on the head to wake him from his reverie "And he's covering James with it! Stop bloody staring at…nothing!"

"He was an Auror, course he had one of those!" comprehension came to Sirius "He could have been anywhere and we didn't see him!" Sirius paled and shook his head.

"Oi! We have bigger problems now!" Remus said angrily. Dohov finished disguising James and walked around the corner with him.

"Right, you go tell Peter and I'll follow him!" Sirius said taking out his wand.

"Can Peter be trusted?" Remus asked.

Sirius raised an eyebrow "Can I?"

Remus opened his mouth and closed it. He didn't know what to think of Sirius anymore. "Good point!"

"If you knew how I grew up, you'd know that people can't be trusted." Sirius said darkly performing some spells at him.

"What are you doing?" Remus asked seeing Sirius take different colors.

"It's a disillusionment charm. Well, something like that anyway! You see, only my body becomes disillusioned. It's for those who can't perfect real one yet."

"What do…" Remus began to ask before he gave a yelp. Sirius began stripping before his very eyes. "You're crazy!"

"Actually I'm disillusioned. It's safe to look, won't get you nightmares or anything!" Sirius retorted. "I'm off, go find Peter and come to me."

"How do I do that?" Remus asked as both of them came out of the closet. As he looked back, the door became solid again.

"Peter will know!" Sirius said then footsteps were heard confirming that Sirius ran off.

As Remus walked towards the Great Hall, he thought long and hard about what he'd been through. It was even stranger that their expeditions haven't gone to the staff yet. He was still surprised that McGonagall hadn't suspended them yet or that Dumbledore hadn't put them in St. Mungo's yet for their idiocy. He was already taking advantage because of his condition. Putting dueling outside of curfew in a girl's bathroom, spying on Death Eater meetings and socializing with a Black on top of it would throw Remus out of Hogwarts in a heartbeat. Surely a small friendship wasn't worth his life. But then again, Remus though darkly, it was one of his few friendships he had had yet.

"Remus?" a voice called to him.

"Yeah?" he turned around finding himself in front of Lily. Remus mentally cursed, he forgot that she was always with them. Going anywhere without her would mean explanations.

"Where were you? Where's James?" she asked a little off put.

"James is…hanging around." Remus tried to put it so he wouldn't lie "I waited for him to finish something but it's taking longer then I thought."

"Oh," Lily said not pushing the subject. "Are you going to the Gryffindor tower? I'm heading there to take a nap. All this stress with the exams has worn me out. Just now I though I saw the shape of Black running after something. He didn't even have a body."

"Did you take a good look of it?" Remus asked amused.

Lily thought "No, but I swear he wasn't wearing anything. He also winked at me." She sounded shaken.

Remus took all his will to stop from laughing "I'm going to the Great Hall, I suggest you sleep and forget about Black." The corners of his lips were twitching hard.

He left Lily planning to have a talk with Sirius later. He ran into a bunch of Gryffindors that told him that the little chubby boy was eating again in the Great Hall.

As Remus entered the Great Hall, he struggled not to laugh. The only two people left eating were Dumbledore and Pettigrew, a couple he would have never imagined. He greeted Dumbledore who sat at the Gryffindor table feeling that he interrupted something. Peter also was looking relived at him, something he never experienced before. It occurred to him that against their better judgment and family traditions, the four boys had bonded.

Peter excused himself from the table and left, leaving Dumbledore alone smiling at their retreating backs. Once outside, Remus quickly told him about everything that had happened, still unsure what the next move was.

Peter began searching inside his robe for something, taking a full minute or two. Finally, he pulled out his wand and put it on the ground and muttered some words. The wand began rotating until it stopped.

"While we were at Sirius' this summer, we practiced elementary spell making. We discovered one where we could jinx a part of our body so we could always find each other with the proper spell using only the wand we used." Peter started explaining.

Remus nodded, surprised at Peter's ingenuity "You did this?"

Peter laughed "No, Sirius has a cousin that helped us. She was amused by the idea of never having privacy. She tried to create the spell and we applied it."

"Don't we have to tell the professors?" Remus asked feeling smaller by the minute.

Peter shook his head "If there was a moment when we could have told them, it's long gone. We broke rules Lupin, nothing we did to compensate matters. Adults usually don't care for "what if"s, only for solid facts and we don't have anything to offer them that can tell our story. Now, we are just some students hiding in the girl's bathroom that attacked some Slytherins out of house rivalry while they were going to the loo. By the time they find the truth, Dolohov will have been long gone."

"Why do you care for James?" Remus inquired.

"We don't!" Peter laughed "but it's a good adventure for me and Sirius, anything else doesn't matter."

"You're fighting with fire!" Remus cautioned.

"So do you" Peter shrugged "Why should you be more special than us?"

"I have a reason to!" Remus said.

"So do we! I'd imagine you'd be more grateful."

"I don't know if I should trust you!" Remus tried.

"No you don't." Peter answered gently picking up his wand "Too late now isn't it? Follow me if you want to help."

Feeling desolated, Remus followed.

* * *

James had many surprises when he woke up. For one, he wasn't in the hospital ward, common room or any classroom he had ever seen at Hogwarts. The world around him was dark, the only source of light coming from the moon. 

"Where am I?" he whispered to himself.

He knew he wasn't tied but he didn't have his wand. There were many trees around him, towering over everything and making few gapes of space between for people to pass. In short, it was like a fortress.

A river was flowing in the middle of it, illuminated by the night light. The moon was mirrored into it making a distorted image. The water crossing and hitting the stones around it was making an unpleasant sound.

To worsen the mood, a group of birds were glaring at him from the trees; an unpleasant look about them told James he wasn't welcomed there.

"Good, you're awake." Dolohov said coming from the forest. "Do you like this place? I had the pleasure to come across it back in the days I was a student here."

"You're a Death Eater." James stated.

Dolohov frowned "It's rude to interrupt someone when he's speaking Potter. Don't ever do that again." He raised his hand to show he had a wand.

"If you could have killed me you would have done so already." James tried.

"Who said anything about killing?" Dolohov asked acting insulted "There are other ways I could make you beg to die."

"Course you do." James murmured. "What do you want?"

"I see manners cannot be taught to you Potter, shame."

"Why did you let me loose?" James continued.

"I didn't" Dolohov shrugged "You can't escape from here. Even if you somehow managed to kill me, get your wand back and get out, you don't know how to get back to Hogwarts."

"What do you want from me?"

Dolohov raised his wand and shot a spell at James's leg. Pain exploded in James's leg and he could already feel blood.

"That's better. You will pay respect to me from now on. I shot your leg to compensate the pain I felt when you tried to wound me. Madame Pomfrey was most kind to heal me. She didn't ask many questions either."

James sat down, not trusting himself to stand anymore. His vision was already blurring and his left leg was numb.

"To answer your question Potter, when you discovered me, the Dark Lord's plan failed. He will be angry at me for letting you discover. I took you because I wanted something to compensate my failure."

"Sorry to disappoint you but I'm not going anywhere." James spat holding his leg.

"Don't worry Potter; the Dark Lord is too great to show his face to someone like you. I'll get the information from you and take it to him."

"Good luck with that." James countered.

Dolohov stood facing James for a while. His face had a red shade on it, either because of anger or fear, James couldn't tell. He began pacing left and right, waving his arms around and talking to himself it appeared. James tried to crawl to the river to wash his wound but it was too painful.

"I have to do something to get out of here." James thought.

* * *

"You've got to be joking." Remus groaned. 

The wand was pointing towards the forest. Peter was nudging it towards another direction but the wand persisted in pointing.

"We have no choice" Remus decided walking forward. Peter followed from behind, not looking brave anymore. He was carrying a bag with Sirius's clothes to give them to him when they would meet. Remus would have no objection to it if it hadn't slowed them down for more than an hour.

"Remus can you carry this please?" Peter begged wiping sweat that covered his face.

They had agreed to speak on a first name basis as a result of Remus feeling silly saying Pettigrew over and over again.

"No Peter, and hurry up, it's turning dark already." Remus pointed at the faint line of sun left.

They walked across the grounds as fast as possible, not wanting to be spotted. Remus knew that the Gryffindor tower had perfect view of them and with the help of the bag Peter was carrying; they'd sure understand something was up.

"Can't you shrink the bag?" Remus muttered annoyed when a couple returning from one of the Herbology greenhouses eyed them warily.

"I'm not so good at shrinking charms." Peter answered.

At last, they had gotten to the entrance of the Forbidden Forest. Remus entered first, dragging Peter behind him and looked back. Nobody was following.

"James is going to pay for this." He mumbled as Peter put his wand down asking for directions.

The wand turned and spun until it stopped pointing towards the least clear path into the Forest.

"Wonderful" Remus sighed as Peter caught his breath "Oh give me that!" he pulled the bag from Peter, "You should start loosing weight."

"I can't. All Pettigrews are fat. It's a tradition."

Remus turned his head "You're joking right? The only reason you eat six meals a day is because your family does that?"

Peter looked at him stupidly "Yeah."

"But, it's dumb. If you want to stay slim, you can do it. No damn tradition is worth more than your freedom."

"Lupin, don't talk about things you don't understand" Peter grunted picking up his wand and going forward.

* * *

"I remember your uncle well." Dolohov said after a while. "He was cunning like no other Slytherin you see today. If there was a way, he'd do it." 

"I don't care." James retorted.

"Grindelwald's first man he was. He escaped Aurors many times. Nobody knew how he did it. I remember one time; me and my men captured him and prepared to take him away. He was bound by ropes, didn't have a wand and the place had anti-Apparation wards all over. You know what he did?" Dolohov laughed "He used his head to kick one of my men in the stomach, grabbed his wand with his teeth and jumped in front of a cutting hex, ripping his skin and rope. In two moves, he killed my men. I was the only one left and he could have killed me. We had a contest going on however, you see, he was toying with me, making me loose my mind in trying to capture him. He tortured me until I told him where his friends were and how to escape. He left me there near death and ran off."

James looked at the ground feeling worse by the minute. His bleeding had stopped a while ago but it still pained him to even move his toe.

"Potter do you hear me? A hundred and twenty year old killed almost half of the Aurors back then. He was even more feared then Grindelwald."

"Make him a bloody statue then!" James spat.

"Potters are famous for being ingenious and extremely lucky. I have no doubt that you'll somehow live after today but there's also a bad side to their luck. Even if they live, they'll have death around them."

"Dolohov, shut the fuck up!" James screamed.

Dolohov stared transfixed at James "Shame, I didn't want to do this!" he raised his wand.

Any healing to James's leg in the past hour had been reversed. His wound cut open again and another one appeared. James tried to look and see the damage but he was only seeing black spots.

"Now Potter, I want you to exactly tell me what did your uncle say to you his last moments? What exactly is your secret?" Dolohov roared.

"Like I'm going to tell you." James laughed feeling things couldn't get worse than that.

Dolohov screamed with frustration and took out his wand. "Oh, but you will tell me. _Legilimens_!"

Any pain James felt went numb at that moment. He felt like an intruder in his mind, like he was seeing his life with the eyes of another. He saw himself as a baby and quickly growing up. In thirty seconds he felt like he had relieved his childhood. Finally, the flow stopped and he saw himself in St. Mungo's laughing in the arms of his father.

_His father sat grim rocking James. "Be quiet James, you're making quite a lot of noise. _

_Of course that only made James laugh even louder. _

_His mother came into view and took James from his father's hands placing a kiss on his cheek "Behave James." She said and turned to his father "He wants to see James." _

_Revolted, his father got up on his feet "Why?" _

_"To say goodbye. He says he's sorry for everything he's done to us." _

_"You can't believe that!" James's father erupted "He murdered thousands of good people just to fill his greed. Now that everything is over, he wants to suddenly change sides." _

_"I know, but he's dieing. He doesn't have much left. At least let him talk to his nephew for once. Don't let your anger with him deprive James of his only talk to his uncle." His mother reasoned. _

_His father slowly nodded "Fine, but I don't want to see him. And make sure you keep an eye on him. I don't know what he plans to do but I'm sure it's something." _

_"Don't worry, I won't let him do anything to James." She ruffled James's hair to make a point. _

_Together with his mother, he walked to the end of the hall. His mother opened a door and went inside. _

_James jumped out of his mother's arms and walked slowly to the only bed. An old frail man sat there, he had no eyeballs and his legs were gone. He had long silvery hair reaching to his shoulders and two golden earrings. _

_James gaped at the sight and called for his mother to show her something. His mother got next to him and placed a protective hand on James. _

_"Look at me!" the man started talking "Do you think I'm a threat to James?" he sounded offended. _

_"Yes." Was his mother's reply. _

_The old man shook his head "I don't have anything more to gain by hurting James. I want to see him and tell him I'm sorry I wasn't around much for him." _

_"You were around, making sure we suffer to please your master." His mother replied. _

_"He's dead now. He was controlling me, what don't you understand?" he gestured to James "come closer James, I want to shake your hand." _

_"Tell him what you want to say and get over with it." His mother held tight to James. _

_The man sighed "Fine, I didn't want to do this." He raised his hand and a red light jumped from his ring. It went to James's mother and hit her on the chest. She fell down soundlessly. _

_"Mommy!" James called. _

_"Mommy went to sleep James." The man explained. "Come to me so I can say goodbye." _

_James looked at his mother then approached the man. He smiled ruffling James's hair but more brutally than his mother did before. _

_"Listen to me Potter!" the man suddenly shouted pulling James to him by the hair. _

"I've got to stop this." James thought as the moment came. He imagined a broom and concentrated on flying it. The image began to fade.

Shielding his mind required James to use all the energy he had left. He struggled full five minutes until Dolohov gave up.

"Nice try Dolohov." James gasped as the presence left his mind.

"Dumbledore taught you Occlumency did he?" Dolohov said with frustration "Then I'll have to get the information another way." He readied his wand

* * *

"That thing's rigged" Remus said after they had walked for what seemed like hours. 

"Maybe." Peter laughed tense.

"What?" Remus roared surprised by the answer.

"We didn't have time to test it properly yet." Peter shrugged embarrassed.

"You mean we walked all this way for nothing?" Remus showed the forest around him to emphasize. "We could be lost!"

"Lupin, keep your voice down." A voice suddenly called.

"Sirius!" Peter exclaimed obviously relieved.

"Why didn't you show yourself before?" Remus demanded.

"I was having fun seeing you fight; besides, I was next to you the whole time." The voice explained.

"Wow, we can't see you at all." Peter said awed.

"That the purpose of the spell Peter." Sirius replied sarcastically.

"We brought your clothes. Where's James?" Remus asked as the bag he was holding opened and clothes lifted up.

"Not far from here, if you had been later, I would have gone myself to save him."

"Is he in trouble?" Remus asked.

"Lupin, your logic amuses me." The bundle of clothes replied.

"How badly is James hurt?" Remus asked again.

The clothes stopped for a moment and waved a wand. Sirius appeared inside the clothes a few moments after "A lot."

"What are we standing here for then? Let's go save him." Remus urged.

"Aye" Sirius agreed grimly.


End file.
